Son of Neptune
by 11Lil'MissWriter11
Summary: This is my version of the Son of neptune. i would appreciate you letting me know what you think because im trying to get better at writing! so anyway, really no need for a summary, just read and review! T just in case! if you want SYOC!
1. Chapter 1: WHERE IN HADES AM I?

**Percy**

There was an odd chill resting in the air as his eyes scanned the small clearing. It looked no different than the one he had rested in five minutes ago, but there was something about this spot that made a shiver run down his spine. Something familiar in him stirred, like he should recognize a hidden importance of the place. A bad feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. _I shouldn't be here_, Percy thought, _I really shouldn't be here._ But he had spent the past three days following some instinct, leading him this way, and he wasn't about to turn back because of some stupid pessimistic voice in his head.

You see, you must understand that Percy has a right to be frustrated, because he had woken up four days ago, in the middle of nowhere; in a place so thickly wooded that only minimal traces of sunlight were able to peek through the leaves, leaving him cold and disoriented. But he had felt a subconscious pull, a feeling, that this was the right way to go. Having no other leads, he headed this way, hoping that it lead out of these endless wood. _Not with my luck_, he thought miserably. A pain started in between his eyes again. He wasn't sure why thinking about his horrible luck had left his mind rebelling against himself, but apparently he'd had some pretty bad luck in the past for this to start triggering the fleeting memories that occasionally bubbled to the surface, only to disappear before he could get a grasp for what it was or what it actually meant.

Lost deep in thought, he didn't identify the sound of an approach until it was too late. And there, in front of him stood a fierce looking girl with bright blue eyes that might have pleasant if they weren't fixated on him in a murderous glare. Before he could even react, there was a sword at his throat and his back was thrust against the tree behind him leaving no room to escape.

"Where is Jason?" she asked forcefully, with a strange accent to her voice that he couldn't place. _Do I know a Jason? _Percy asked himself, seeing if the name prompted some elusive memory from the dark pit in his mind that they seemed to be currently hiding in, but nothing happened. _Even if I had known a Jason, _Percy reasoned, _how could I remember him, much less know where he is. Where am _**I **_anyway?_

"Who's Jason?" Her blue eyes narrowed to slits, but she lowered her sword.

"Nam amor pro Jupiter! Quis es?" her voice cold and steely, as if she were an inch away from launching into a long string of profanities… Or cutting his head off, but he couldn't understand a word she said. Her tongue flew through the foreign language with such speed that he wondered if could keep up with her, even if he _did_ know the language (which he didn't).

"What?" he asked, curious about what she just asked.

"And you don't even speak Latin! This just keeps getting better! I said, who are you half-blood?" her voice full of suspicion. "You are far too old to have travelled here alone, where are the others?" she suddenly looked wary, as if she expected someone to jump out and attack her.

"I-I'm alone." He said, cautious of the aggressive girl with blue eyes.

"Impossible!" she spat at him, ripping a bronze helmet from her head, allowing straight blond hair to tumble down her back. It was only then that he realized how odd it should be that she was wearing armor over a pair of dark jeans and a loose purple t-shirt, but he also realized that to him it wasn't that unusual. "Unless you are a minor, but no. You don't have any of the same features…" she kept thinking out loud, going over every possibility, not missing a detail. It reminded him of someone… Suddenly the pain in his head started again and a new memory flashed up, but this time he was able to see it before it faded away again.

There was a girl with curly, golden hair flying out behind her as she ran down a beach. They were alone and the sea glittered off to the side in the light of a stunning sunset. He felt himself chasing after her, laughing. The girl looked back at him, a look of pure happiness in her shining grey eyes, also laughing. _Can't catch me, Seaweed Brain? _She taunted. But while looking back at him, she stumbled, giving him a chance to catch up and tackle them both into the sand. _In your dreams, Wise Girl._ He responded. They leaned towards each other, their foreheads touching…

Percy snapped out of the memory in time for the small girl in front of him to look back at him, the ferocity seemed to die down enough to allow some confusion in there with it.

"Who are you?" she asked. _If only _**I**_ knew, _Percy thought.

"I don't know…" her eyes narrowed again.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? It's a simple question, who are you? You know like, where are you from, and what have you done your whole life?"

"What I mean by saying I don't know, is that I don't know. As far as I can tell, where I'm from is the middle of these woods, considering that's where I woke up four days ago. And what I've done my whole life? Walked this way through the woods. That's pretty much all I've done in the past four days. My name is Percy. And that is about as extensive as my memory is right now. Never caught your name though. And you would be…" he trailed off. She stood up a little straighter, but her eyes no longer contained the malice they held before, just curiosity.

"Reyna, daughter of Apollo."


	2. Chapter 2: REYNA

**Reyna**

Perimeter scouting status: Almost complete

Sighting: Three Canes Inferni (Hellhounds) spotted. Status: Disposed of

Sighting: One extremely large Draconis (Dragon) spotted. Status: Wounded, camp on high alert

Sighting: Two Mulieres Anguibus (Gorgons) spotted. Status: Disposed of

Legionary Rank: Reyna Bellator, Head of Apollo Cabin, _Temporary_ Praetor of the First Legion

Legionary Ranks of Tergum (Backup): Robert (Bobby) Stanzit, Imperator of the First Legion; Dakota Elduraz, Legionary, First Legion; Gwendolyn (Gwen) Reglos, Legatus of the First Legion; Alexis (Al) Rivianes, Tiro of the First Legion. **(A/N this is my own character, if you want to submit one, go ahead and I might use it.) **

Reyna was filling out the demanded paperwork for a perimeter scouting. You see, the Trivia (Hecate) Cabin had put up enchantments around the camp, and strong ones at that, but they didn't always keep out the larger, more dangerous monster and mortals. As a result, a few member of the Legion had to switch off scouting the perimeter for anything and everything. It was quite a boring job, and at the moment, Reyna really felt like handing off the responsibility to Bobby, being the Imperator, or commander, of the First Legion. But no, she couldn't, she wouldn't. She really really really wanted to, but she wouldn't. For the sake of Jason. He had always been a strong leader, doing what needed to be done, not what he _wanted_ done. And for the sake of the person who had stood up in front of everyone in the Dark Hour, and rallied the troops to victory, she would do it.

_Stupid Juno_, Reyna thought,_ probably sent Jason off on some STUPID quest, for some STUPID reason, for the STUPID Gods._ The sky rumbled a bit at that. _SORRY! Just a little frustrated down here… Didn't mean it Lord Jupiter!_ She kept walking and searching the tree on the last stretch of the perimeter.

_CRACK!_ Something crunched somewhere off to the side of her.

_Towards the southwest. About 58 degrees to the side. The clearing. Must be a pretty large monster to have made it all the way to the inner enchantments. But wait! If it was that big how could it not be making any noise?_ Reyna analyzed the situation, then crept towards the clearing.

Sighting: Humanoid (Can't quite be sure. Could be Mortal, Demigod, a god. Who knows?) 6'1. Black hair, green eyes, strong build, tan. 16/17 years old. Shouldn't be alive, too old to survive on his own. Status: Going in to interrogate, he might know something about Jason.

Looking back, Reyna probably should have approached with more caution. But looking back, Reyna thought, she would have done the same thing again. She pulled out her Gladius, pressed the button on her watch that summoned the Tergum.

He looked deep in thought, giving Reyna the perfect opportunity. She leapt in and shoved his back against a tree, holding her sword to his throat. He looked extremely taken aback. Surprised. Good. That's what she was going for.

"Where is Jason?" Reyna forced to her lips. Her ager renewed at the thought of Jason. He looked confused and took a second to answer.

"Who's Jason?" He asked, his eyes wide. I lowered my sword. His eyes, a deep green-blue, like the ocean. They were actually kind of nice… SNAP OUT OF IT REYNA! I focused on the answer he'd given me a second ago. My eyes narrowed of their own accord. Great! He didn't know either!

"For the love of Jupiter!" I exclaimed, and in frustration, switched to Latin. "Who are you?" I was about to curse Juno straight to Tartaurus (A/N is that spelled right?). when he gave me a confused look.

"What?" He doesn't understand the most basic of phrases! By this age the lingual structure of his mind should've allowed him to know almost the full language fluently.

"And you don't even speak Latin! This just keeps getting better! I said, who are you half-blood?" I was suspicious to say the least, he didn't seem like a Minor, but he shouldn't have been able to survive on his own this long… that's it! They're others with him. Wait! Where are they? "You are far too old to have travelled here alone, where are the others?"

"I-I'm alone." He looked at me with wariness. With those blue-green, almost hidden by messy black hair… SNAP OUT OF IT REYNA!

"Impossible!" I spat. I tore off my helmet and threw it to the ground in frustration. "Unless you are a minor, but no. You don't have any of the same features… how can this be? You're not alone, you're not a minor, you shouldn't be alive at the moment, but how are you? Doesn't even look like you have a weapon! Unless you lived in a really busy city… but this is San Francisco! They're monster everywhere in this city! You'd have to be from pretty far away, and if you were… why would you be here now. UGH! It doesn't make any sense! Who are you?" I asked again, hoping to get an actual answer this time. He thought about it for a second.

"I don't know…" WHAT!

"What do you mean 'you don't know'? It's a simple question, who are you? You know like, where are you from, and what have you done your whole life?"

"What I mean by saying I don't know, is that I don't know. As far as I can tell, where I'm from is the middle of these woods, considering that's where I woke up four days ago. And what I've done my whole life? Walked this way through the woods. That's pretty much all I've done in the past four days. My name is Percy. And that is about as extensive as my memory is right now. Never caught your name though. And you would be…" I almost laughed right there, he was pretty funny, but I didn't. I subconsciously straightened.

"Reyna, daughter of Apollo."

"What in the name of Pluto are you doing!"


	3. Chapter 3: ALEXIS

**Alexis**

Reyna had called backup, though no one knew why. I met up with Bobby right beside the clearing, since we were the closest to her position, we got there first. We crouched down behind a bush to listen.

Situation assessment: Half blood found, unknown parentage, suffering from a fairly severe case of amnesia. Reyna called the Tergum as Legion Protocol.

I was about to leave and take Bobby with me, seeing as Reyna had it under control, but NNNOOO… Bobby, naturally impulsive son of Mars, burst into the clearing before I had the chance to stop him.

"What in the name of Pluto are you doing!" Bobby yelled. Slashing the air with his own sword, right in front of that poor guys face. I was about to intervene, but, though surprised, the boy didn't even flinch as the Bronze blade passed less than an inch from his face. "This violates code; 3 sector; 4 paragraph; 2 page; 76 of the Legion guide! All knew campers are to be immediately brought to Lupa!" that's it, I couldn't stand to watch it as he swung the sword again, even closer than before.

"Imperator!" I shouted as I ran into the small area with no trees. He turned to glare at me, and as much as I wanted to help this boy, Bobby's glares still made me cower. "W-with all due respect, Sir. I-I-I would like to point out that whereas she is in violation of code; 3 sector; 4 paragraph; 2 page; 76 of the Legion guide, she is Praetor, and you, being her Imperator, should respect her judgments." He scowled.

"With all due respect, Tiro," he snarled at me. "being only a recruit to the First Legion, should respect your superiors. And whereas that might you might have a point, I also, being her Imperator, have the right to challenge her judgment. I say, bring him to the Alveus (the Hold), until we have him consult Lupa!" I shrank back beneath the death stare of the Mars Cabin.

"WHOA! WAIT!" the boy said forcefully enough and with enough authority that we all stopped to look at him. "Don't I get a say in this? And who's Lupa? I'd like some answers before you decide my fate." He said, half-jokingly at the end. His beautiful blue-green eyes seemed to be focused on my with curiosity. I wonder why, considering I'm not very interesting.

"No," Reyna told me, completely ignoring the boy with the beautiful eyes. "Bobby is right. Al, take him to the Alveus, he will consult with Lupa later." I didn't want to take him there, it wasn't the most pleasant of places, but I couldn't disobey a direct oder from the Praetor. I could lose the spot in the First Legion I had worked so hard to get, even if I was only ranked as a recruit. I really didn't want that. So on that note I laid a hand on his arm gently and lead him away. "Don't worry, Lupa will explain." I promised as we walked towards the Alveus.


	4. Chapter 4: BREAKING THE NEWS

**Annabeth**

_Doesn't remember who he is, _the words rang in my head, _doesn't remember me_.

Yes, that's right. Perseus Jackson, Savior of Olympus, Son of Poseidon, my boyfriend, was across the country with out any memory of who he is, or who I am. He won't remember all the times he saved me, or saved the world for that matter. He won't remember all the times we both nearly died, or all the moments we shared together out in the world, fighting monsters, seeing new places, saving the world from impending doom. I'm not sure which is worse, not remembering who you are, or not being remembered.

I used to spend a lot of time on the beach, and even more after he disappeared, but now I was more focused with getting him back. Almost every waking moment, you could find me working on the Argo ll. And every single one of those moments, you could find me thinking about the great hero that we had lost, _my_ lost hero.

There had been so many kids that looked up to him, that got a chance to befriend the great Hero of Olympus. But they ended up seeing him as more than the person who had saved the world, they saw the Percy Jackson I know and love. The one who wasn't afraid to make a joke in the tensest of moments. The one who, no matter what he felt inside, would encourage others. The one who boosted others up to greatness no matter the personal cost. The one who proved why his Fatal Flaw is loyalty. Because Percy wasn't one to sit around (Perhaps it was the ADHD) while others worked to achieve something. He wouldn't do it for them, but he would help them as much as he could. Because he wasn't just The Hero of Olympus, he was a hero to everyone who met him.

On top of all the Percy stuff, the Gods had gone silent. NO communication whatsoever. I hadn't even put the finishing touches on Olympus.

"Annabeth! Annabeth!" Brooke, an 8 year old who was the newest addition to the Hecate cabin came running in Bunker 9. I put down the pencil I was using to modify the blueprints slightly to accommodate our needs and smiled at her.

"Yes, Brooke?" I asked, trying to be as nice as I could while being interrupted from my work.

"Chiron wants to see you…" she said, smiling at me sadly, yet sympathetically. When she had gotten here, Percy had given her the tour of the camp and told her about the Gods. Also, with her having taken an aptitude for sword fighting, he had shown her all she knows now and helped her find the perfect sword for her. He had helped her capture the flag against the Ares cabin by fending them off while she grabbed it, so I guess you could say, she was like Percy's little sister. When he had disappeared, she'd been devastated.

"Ok, sweetie. Let Leo know." She nodded and walked away to find the head of Hephaestus Cabin.

Walking over to the Big House, I couldn't help but remember the first time I met Percy there. Of course, he was unconscious for days, but I remember sitting by his bed, feeding him Ambrosia and Nectar, watching him get better.

Out on the front porch Chiron stood at his full centaur height.

"You wanted to see me, Chiron?" I asked, still peeved about having to leave my work on the Argo ll.

"Yes. Seeing as we can no longer I'm, I would like you to go into Manhattan and tell Sally what we know now." OH! I had completely forgotten about Percy's mom! I know, a little unfair to her, but I was preoccupied!

"Alright, when should I leave?"

"Argus can take you whenever you're ready."

"Oh, okay I'm going to get going."

"Alright, Annabeth." I left before I could get mad, or start crying. Really, it could've been either one. I had no idea what I was going to tell Sally and Paul, but I guess I'd have to figure it out later.

Argus drove me into the city as soon as I was ready to go. Usually I like to admire the amazing architecture that New York has (and think about what I would have done differently), but I really didn't pay attention anymore. I guess I had too much on my mind. Before I knew it, I was standing outside the apartment complex, still having no idea what I was going to tell them, I stepped into the elevator.

_Knock knock knock! _I tapped on the door, hoping they were home.

After standing there for a few minutes, the door opened to reveal Paul.

"Annabeth! Come on in! How are you?" Paul asked, looking concerned.

"I'm pretty good, how is Sally doing? I really need to talk to you guys." When we had told them Percy was missing, Sally, usually one to be strong, was absolutely crushed, while Paul, also shocked, comforted her. We hadn't heard much from them since, but you could obviously tell they were very upset, even more so in some ways than me, to learn he was gone.

"Sally is handling it the best she can. I mean, she's used to quests and other things by now, but if no one knows where he is, that's a whole other level of frightening for a mother. One second, I'll go get her." I sat down on down in a chair at the dining room table and waited for them to come out.

I was surprised by the appearance of Percy's mother. Usually bright and happy, she looked sad and her face was creased with concern.

"Oh, Annabeth!" she said, then cam forward and gave me a hug. Over the years, she had sort of acted as the mother I never had. When we pulled apart she looked me in the eyes with what looked a little like desperation. "Did they find him? Please tell me they found him." I grabbed her hands and we all sat down at the table.

"Okay," I said. "I have some good news, some bad news, some worse news, and the worst news. I'll start with the good news." I took a deep breath before continuing. "We… know where Percy is…" I looked at her cautiously. Her eyes were shining with tears of joy and she broke into a huge grin, as did Paul. They got up and hugged each other. I could understand their feelings, but I hadn't said the bad news yet. "But the bad news…" I said once they sat back down. "Is that he's at a camp for Demigod camp for children of the Roman aspects of the gods in San Francisco, and lets say they really don't like the Greeks." Sally looked at me, her face expressionless and listening but her eyes were still shining with that old light as if nothing could ruin her good mood. "The worse news…" I continued. "Is that we are building a vehicle at the moment to transport us there and it will take a few months…" Sally and Paul just nodded at me, but they still looked so happy I almost didn't want to tell them… "But the worst news is…" I had to take a breath to steady myself so I wouldn't start crying. "Even if we do get him back, which I am determined we will do, he…" I was shaking now, trying to hold in the tears and Sally put a comforting hand on my arm. "He won't remember any of us."


	5. Chapter 5: BOY WITH THE OCEAN EYES

**Alexis**

"So you can't remember a single thing?" I ask him, pity in my voice. He scowled slightly as if he didn't like the sympathy.

"Not one thing." He said, his low voice full of sadness. I can't imagine what it would be like to have no memories. Like standing at the edge of an abyss, knowing there is something important in it, but not being able to reach it.

"Wow… umm… that must be hard."

"In some ways yes, in others not really." He said indifferently.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you think about it, I can't possibly miss anything from my old life because I don't remember it." He reasoned.

"That's a good point…"

"Yeah, but on the other hand, with some things, I get impressions, or a feeling that I should know it, but I don't. That's the worst, to miss something, and you don't even know what it is, so you can't go find it."

"Oh..." was all I could manage. How could he possibly be so calm? I would be freaking out!

"Yeah…" he sighed. His eyebrows were furrowed as if trying to remember everything at once by sheer will.

"So, what kind of impressions? And when you looked at what? Maybe we could try to jog your memory." I suggested half-heartedly. I got the feeling that it wouldn't work.

"Well, when I first woke up, I looked for anything that might be familiar to me…" makes sense. "but when I found nothing familiar I started walking in this direction, by some instinct or whatnot…"

"Alright…" prompting him to continue.

"About halfway here I was attacked by some snake haired ladies—"

"Mulieres Anguibus." I gasped. I had helped Reyna fight them earlier, how could they have reformed so fast?

"Yeah, and I looked in my pocket for something, I was surprisingly calm through it. I pulled this out." And he pulled a ballpoint pen out of his pocket. Ookkaayyy. Where is he going with this? He reached for the cap. "And this is crazy, watch." I watched as he uncapped it, and it was transformed into a three foot bronze sword, meticulously crafted, beautiful hilt. I eyed it warily. If he couldn't remember anything, we don't know where it came from or if he has any training. But he twirled it expertly in his hands as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "They attacked me, so I swung it and the disintegrated, but the just kept reforming. They said something about Medusa." Could this get any more confusing? Oh yeah, it can! The bronze glowed with a certain light that seemed almost sinister. We used Celestial bronze a lot, but the sword's build was odd. Monsters reforming so quickly? And MEDUSA? No one had seen her in over fifty years!

"You should really put that away." I squeaked as he turned, almost slashing my face.

"Oh, right, sorry." He looked at me sheepishly and recapped it, I watched in fascination as it turned back into a pen.

"It's okay." My voice still high. "So, about the impressions.."

"Yeah, right. So after I lost them, I was looking at it, trying to remember where it came from, but all I remember is a constellation." Interesting, could be from one of the gods.

"Which constellation?"

"The Huntress." What?

"I've never heard of that constellation, and I've been taking astrology classes my entire life. Actually, I'm now the instructor of the astrology class and I've never heard of 'The Huntress'." I gave him a quizzical look.

"Don't look at me!" he defended, raising his hands up in surrender. "I have no idea where it came from!" I laughed.

"Meet me outside tonight, then you can show me this 'Huntress' constellation. You know, the one that doesn't exist." I teased. Wait, did I just ask him out in a totally non-intentional, indirect way? Well, he is cute with all his messy black hair, ocean blue eyes, and stoic attitude.

"So then it's a date." He said, and then blushed a little. "I mean not like a _date_ date. But like… ugh! You know what I mean!" I was full-out laughing at this point.

"This is where you'll be staying tonight, or until we can consult Lupa." I said as we finally got to the Alveus. "Just get comfortable, and I'd suggest staying out of other's way." Some of the campers weren't too keen on older kids who had no idea about the Legion structure. They expected them to know everything when they got there, which I find totally unfair, but I can't control what they do.

"Yes ma'am!" he said with a fake salute. "so tonight?"

"Like I said. Meet me out here tonight. Right here. At night. Got it yet?" I teased him again. Why am I like this with him? I don't act this way around others.

"You've got it bad, Al." a voice snickered behind me after he'd gone inside. Wait, how long have I been standing here staring at the door?

"What do you want Hazel?" I asked the daughter of Venus.

"I was actually coming to pressure you again to get a boyfriend, but it looks like I don't need to…" my face turned bright red.

"Shut up. It's not like that."

"Whatever you say…" she said in a singsong voice that told me she wasn't going to let this go. "He _was_ pretty hot. You did good, Al. You did good. See ya around.: she said snickering, then left. For my best friend, she was really annoying sometimes.

**Hey guys! Please review! BTW, at this point, Alexis is still unclaimed… go ahead and guess who she is. I bet you won't be able to!**


	6. Chapter 6: AHH, THE MEMORIES

**Annabeth**

For about the next hour I stayed in the little apartment with Sally and Paul, comforting them. But as it turns out, the more I thought of the situation, the more I felt like breaking down too. For weeks I've tried to stay strong for the sake of the other campers, for the sake of my cabin mates, for the sake of myself. You could say that all the emotion was bottling up inside over time and right now, it was about to burst open. We sat on the sofa, Sally and I holding each other, Paul both saying empty words of ease, but he was in just as much shock as Sally. To have your son go missing is one thing, to know you'll have to wait a few months is one thing, but to know that even when you do see him, he'll have no idea who you are is another thing completely.

By the time I got back to camp, the sun had almost completely set. Everyone was eating at the dining pavilion, but I had no appetite at the moment. I was tired, worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally. My feet shuffled along in the grass, not headed in any particular direction, just needing somewhere to go. I wasn't that surprised to find I had stopped outside the Poseidon cabin; I usually go there when I'm upset. I was about to walk in when I heard something inside the cabin, cautiously I open the door a crack. I heard a few shaky breaths then someone whimper softly. Someone was inside the Poseidon cabin crying. Wait, no, not crying, sobbing. Sobbing hard.

I opened the door the rest of the way to reveal 8 year old Brooke lying on Percy's bed bawling. I walked over and plopped down next to her. She momentarily paused to look up at me, wondering who else was in the cabin with her. Upon realizing it was me, she threw her tiny arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder. I held her, sitting in that cabin. She crawled into my lap and we both cried while I stroked her hair.

"Shhhhhh…" I murmur, rocking her back and forth in my arms like a small child. "Shhhhhh…"

I'm not quite sure how much time passed, but it her sobs eventually settled and her breathing steadied. In a matter of moments, the little brown curly haired girl that had been closer to Percy than most everyone fell asleep, with me holding her.

I laid her on Percy's bed and let her sleep. It was a stressful time after all. I watched her for a few minutes, noting how people look so peaceful in sleep, when they don't usually have to deal with the stress of what's going on. After a while I walked around the cabin like I had done so many times before. Going over to his nightstand, I opened the drawer and pulled out the scrapbook some Aphrodite kids had made us. Apparently, over the years, they had known we liked each other and made us a compilation of all the photos they'd taken.

"A-Annabeth?" Brooke sat up in Percy's bed and looked at me with more sadness than I thought possible for an 8 year old's eyes.

"Yeah, sweetie?" I asked softly, trying to keep the depression out of my voice.

"Tell me about Percy. I mean, I know I knew him, but I want to know what he was like when you first met him." I really didn't want to start crying again, but she looked at me with such anguish that I felt I owed it to the little girl.

"Well, he isn't too different. He's always been brave and caring and loyal and not always the brightest person, but he's the kind of person you couldn't help but smile around. He wasn't always so strong though. He was unsure of himself at first, hesitant as he was thrust into this world, but he soon found his place in the world, as a hero. Now let me tell you one thing, he has a talent for pissing people off, particularly the gods, so he has quite a few immortal enemies, but even they have a grudging respect for what he's done."'

"What was it like to go on quests with him?" I laughed at some of the memories that came with being Percy's best friend and then girlfriend.

"There wasn't a single quest we didn't do together. Well except for the one where I was held captive by a Titan, but he wasn't always supposed to go on those quests. This is where his fatal flaw comes into play. His was loyalty, meaning he'd do anything, even give his own life to make sure his loved ones were safe. I'm sure he would do anything for you, Brooke. You were like the little sister he never had. Anyway, when I first met Percy, he was unconscious from fighting his first monster, the minotaur." Her eyes widened. "He was given a quest after only a short while."

"What was it." she was on the edge of the bed, excited and anxious to learn about the boy she was like a sister to.

"It was me, him and Grover, and we had ten days to find Zeus's master bolt which was stolen." She gasped. I was actually quite enjoying telling her about our adventures. She just has to wait for the other years, then she'll really be excited.


	7. Chapter 7: THE HUNTRESS

**Percy**

I walked inside the small brown building, realizing only now that I had been so into the conversation with Alexis that I hadn't even noticed the rest of the camp. But anyway, the inside held a small bed, a desk in the corner and a lamp on a small table to light up the room. It was small and cozy, but slightly depressing, or maybe that was just me.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do until I was supposed to meet Alexis outside, or how long that would even take. So I sat on the floor beside the lamp to get a better look at the pen. I pulled it out of my pocket and uncapped it.

It was perfectly balanced in my hand, the leather hilt soft, conforming to my grip. The bronze blade shined brightly and I could make out some symbols on it, _Anaklusmos, Riptide._ I don't know how I could read it, the word just popped into my head. And with that thought, the pain in my head started again as I caught a glimpse of a memory.

_"You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson." a girl's voice said, shakily, like it was painful to speak. "You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword." She shuddered painfully._

_ "Zoe—" I heard my own voice say uncertainly._

_ "The stars." She whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady." A young girl with silver eyes held her, a single tear running down her cheek._

_ "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."_

_ "Stars." The girl that was dying said again, then she was motionless. We all bowed our heads the young girl who held her cupped her hand over the other girl's, Zoe's, mouth, then said a few words, like a blessing, in a different language. I watched in awe as Zoe's body shimmered as a wisp of silver smoke was exhaled from her mouth, then the girl was gone. The young girl who had held Zoe, held silver dust from the smoke that Zoe had exhaled. She whispered a few more words and then released it into the sky._

_For a moment I didn't see anything different. Then a girl with blond hair and beautiful grey eyes—so familiar, yet still lost among other things—next to me gasped. Looking up in the sky, I saw that the stars were brighter now. They made a pattern I had never noticed before—a gleaming constellation that looked a lot like a girl's figure—a girl with a bow, running across the sky._

_ "Let the world honor you, My Huntress." The young girl said. "Live forever in the stars."_

And with that, I was jerked back into reality, with so many questions flying around my head, I couldn't possibly answer one, much less them all. I sat up, only now realizing I was lying on the floor. Off to my left was a tray of food with a note.

Dear Percy,

I tried to wake you up for dinner, but you wouldn't get up so I got some food for you. It seemed like you were having a nightmare. So anyway, enjoy the food, and maybe you can tell me about it tonight, along with showing me that constellation.

Yours truly,

Alexis

I'll have to thank her later. It seems that out of everyone here I've met, she's the only one that treated me like I'm not some bag of garbage that they'd been forced to deal with.

So sitting down and eating the pizza (yep, that was what they were having for dinner) I thought about the dream. Who was the girl, Zoe, that was turned into the constellation? Who was the familiar girl with blond hair and twinkling grey eyes? Who was the younger girl with silver eyes, who had turned Zoe into the constellation once she had died? Why was I there? How did I know all of those people?

Maybe Alexis could help me later. And with that thought, I pushed it aside the best I could, to have dinner and wait for that night.


	8. Chapter 8: DINNER WITH HAZEL, OH BOY!

**Alexis**

When I came in to get him for dinner, I wasn't that surprised to find him asleep. What I didn't like is the fact that I couldn't get him up. Or maybe it's the fact that he was thrashing, like he was having a nightmare.

"Annabeth…" he muttered then went back to thrashing. Or maybe it was the fact that he said some girl's name in his sleep. Get. A. Hold. Of. Yourself. Al. he probably had a girlfriend in his old life, but why did I care? I don't care! I don't like him like that! I swear!

So with that, I tried to settle down as I walked to the dining pavilion, promising myself I would bring him some food after.

We sat at tables according to our legions, with the Praetor at the head, but everyone else is first come, first serve. I got my food and saw Hazel waving me over. She was one of the only Venus children to ever make it to the First Legion. She might be obsessed over the couples at camp just like the other Venus children, but she also had mad skill with throwing knives. But of course, the second I sit down, she starts ranting on.

"Oh. My. Gods. Al! I can't believe it! I told everyone in my cabin about the new guy. He is totally yummy! I mean, I bet that he has a six pack! Omg! If he did, that would be so awesome! I might try to date him to, but you'd probably kill me. So how big is your crush? Moderatly big, super big, or huge?"

"I do _not___have a crush on Percy!" but I could feel my cheeks heat up.

"So his name is Percy, huh? OMG! Even his name is hot! And you're in denial! That is sooo cute" she squealed.

"SHH! I am not in denial!"

"Come ooonnnn, Al. You stood outside staring at the door for five minutes before you realized I was right next to you. And you said something about meeting him outside tonight? Are you cutting curfew? Wow! Only known him for what? Ten minutes? And he's already turned you into a rebel! OMG! He's a bad boy! That is soo hot! It's classic love story! The goody-two-shoes girl and the rebellious boy fall in love and must overcome the obstacles of their life through struggle and anguish, only to realize at the end that they were always meant to be!"

"SHHH! We are not in love, Hazel!" I hissed at her.

"Okay, sorry. But you will be, I can totally see that!"

"Hazel!" I snap, then sigh exasperatedly. "we are not, nor will we be, in love with each other! Got it? Good! This matter is closed!"

"Well, you're no fun." She muttered.

"And I think he might have a girlfriend.." I murmur, though I should've dropped it.

"He might what?" she shouted, and a few people gave her a weird look.

"Well, he can't remember anything, but when went in to get him for dinner, he was asleep—"

"Wait, he's an amnesiac? That is soo hot! And you saw him asleep? Is he just as hot asleep as he is awake,or- OMG is he even hotter? And is that even possible?"

"Well, any way I went in and he was having some sort of nightmare and then he said some girl's name in his sleep…" he really was even hotter in his sleep… wait! Did I really just think that? UGH! She's infectious!

"Well, if he was having a nightmare, what's not to say that this girl is his enemy? Or even if she isn't what make you think that she's his girlfriend?"

"I don't know! I just don't feel comfortable going after a guy, not knowing whether he has a girlfriend or not! And he doesn't even know which makes it more complicated!"

"So you admit that you like him and want to go out with him, you just don't know whether or not he has a girlfriend?"

"I never said that!"

"But you implied it."

"I did not!"

"You can keep denying it, and fighting it, but it's going to happen. I say go out there and get him girl, before I or some other girl here does! And I'm not kidding, I will… this matter is now closed!"

"But I said that a while ago and you didn't stop!"

"First of all, you did. I just said 'well, you're no fun' then you said 'and I think he has a girlfriend' so it was you that brought up the conversation. And second, you say that like you don't want this conversation to be closed. But this conversation is now closed!" she snapped her fingers and went back to eating.

"Hmph!" I huffed indignantly but also went back to eating. For the rest of dinner I sifted through all that Hazel had told me. I really do like him. Even though I just met him, there's something about him… He probably doesn't feel the same way, just give it some time!

At the end of dinner, I went up and got a new tray of food and walked back to the Alveus, hoping he was awake. Not with my luck. He was still asleep on the floor, but this time his face wasn't twisted with pain, he looked like he was having a pleasant this time. I kinda hoped this Annabeth girl wasn't there. I set the food down next to him with the note I had written. I had almost put 'Love, Alexis' at the end, because that's what I do with most letters, but it didn't feel right, he might take it the wrong way, so I changed it then left it in the small building. I heard him wake up just after I closed the door, but I would see him tonight, so I could wait. The sun was already setting, it wouldn't be too long.

**Hey guys! The next chapter is coming soon! Should it be Percy and Al that night? Or should it be Annabeth with Brooke? Let me know what you think! I'm sorry if this isn't as long as I would like it to be… I was thinking about putting the night scene on this chapter but I thought it would be best to separate them.**


	9. Chapter 9: STAR GAZING GONE WRONG

**A/N PLEASE READ! Sorry for the people that wanted a Annabeth & Brooke chapter, but I finished this one first but I promise that when I post that chapter it will be twice as long as some of the others… and if some of you are worried, Alexis and Percy will not end up together. But you remember in the third book where Aphrodite said she was going to make his love life hard and all that. Well this is my way of incorporating that. THANKS!**

**Percy**

It was hard to wait the last few hours before lights out. I had so much on my mind. But after what seemed like an eternity I heard the wolves howl, signaling for the campers to get in bed. Alexis told me that Lupa didn't mind people up late, as long as they were awake bright and early in the morning for training and were aware of the consequences of not giving you're all during it. Not too long after lights out, I heard a soft knock on my door.

"I really hope you're not asleep again." Her voice came from the outside, muffled because of the door. "I tried everything to get you up for dinner, and if you are, I'm leaving right now!"

I just walked over and opened the door.

"Well, thank the gods. Here I thought you forgot about me!" I laughed.

"So, Ms. Constellations-instructor… where's the best star gazing spot. I'll need a good view of 'proving you wrong'. Though you think it doesn't exist, I have a good theory of why. And if you don't believe me, why did you bring a star map?"

"To humor you. Just kidding. On the off-chance that you _are_ right, I want to put the constellation down."

"Well, I hope you have a pen to mark it with." She just stuck her tongue out at me.

"To answer your earlier question, the best spot is the beach, so let's get going." She said, grabbing my hand and trying to drag me away. After watching her struggle for a little I finally followed.

The ocean at night is one of the greatest things you will ever see. The moon reflected off the water, twinkling every time there was the slightest disturbance in the water. The stars from this point were brighter than I had ever seen them before. Not a single cloud covered them. She lead me over to a blanket on the sand.

"This is the best place to star gaze, give you the best vantage point. Now where is this constellation?" she said, a smug look on her face. She still didn't believe me. I scanned the sky for the star I had identified in my dream was the tip of the arrow, the brightest star in the grouping.

"Okay, so you see that one star right there?"

"Yeah?" she said uncertainly at the confidence in my voice.

"Well, if you follow it down, you see the others in the line?"

"Um, yeah…"

"That's the Huntress's Arrow. And if you look at the ones that curve around it that's her.." I prompted

"A bow. And, Wow! But wait!" she looked at the star map and gasped. "You were right! My star map was a present from my godly parent a few years ago, and whenever I'm told about a new constellation and shown it, and it has to be a real one, it automatically is marked on here. Look!" and there it was. A huge grouping of stars that stretched across the night sky in the form of the girl that was once Zoe. "You said you had a theory for why I didn't know it.."

"You see, when you couldn't wake me up, I was having a dream-"

"Figured that…" she said under her breath.

"And there was this girl, she was dying from a cut in her side, it was green. Poison. Her name was Zoe."

"Was?"

"Well, she was being held by another girl, with silver eyes. About twelve or thirteen—"

"You met Lady Diana?" Alexis gasped.

"Maybe, I don't know. It's all still fuzzy. But anyway, Zoe said something about the stars being brighter than normal, like she was in a trance, then she didn't move." I felt a sudden pang of sadness, how had I known this girl. "So the girl with the silver eyes whispered some sort of blessing in a different language with her hand cupped over Zoe's mouth, then Zoe vanished. All that was left was silver dust in the younger girl's hands. She said some more words then all of a sudden there was a new constellation in the sky. And the girl with the silver eyes said 'Let the world honor you, my Huntress. Live forever in the stars.' And it was over."

"Benedictio astra! That blessing hasn't been given in thousands of years! It must've been Lady Diana! Wow, you had an interesting life…" Alexis looked at me with what seemed like awe. "but what does this have to do with your sword?"

"Oh, yeah! Well in the beginning Zoe held it and said 'You were right Percy Jackson' apparently my last name is Jackson… 'You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword.' So it sounds like she made it, or it used to belong to her or something."

"Wow…" she seemed at a loss for words. She looked at me, both of us sitting on the blanket, allowing the waves to lap at our feet. Her eyes seemed to ask questions, but she bit her lip as if not knowing whether or not to say anything. She soon decided against it and looked at the sky. "I've always loved the night sky; it looks so peaceful all the time. I think it represents a demigod's life pretty well. It's mostly dark and uncertain, but along the way are pinpricks of light to guide you, and if you take the time to stop and look, they can sometimes light up that darkness." She sighed softly, and laid back on the blanket.

"That was… deep." I said, not quite sure how to respond to a comment like that. She just started laughing.

"You really are dense, you know that?" she said hitting my arm. She had that look again, like she wanted to ask me something, but again she looked away.

"So you said that the star map was a present from your parent. Who is that?"

"My mother, Nyx. Goddess of the night."

"Well that explains why you like the night so much." She hit me on the arm again and chuckled lightly. Then she looked at me with interest.

"Do you have any clue as to who your godly parent might be?" I snorted.

"Besides Anaklusmos, no."

"Ana-klus-mos?" she looked at me funny as she stumbled over the word.

"Anaklusmos, or Riptide. It's carved into the blade, here." I brought out the sword and uncapped the blade. Sure enough, there were the odd symbols that he'd been able to read.

"What? It looks like Latin but different… how can you read that?" I shrugged.

"I know no more than the next guy about my past." I sighed.

"You know stuff about yourself, it's just hidden. Um... Percy?" she asked warily. I had a feeling this was the question she had been on the fence about asking me. "Was there another girl in your dream?" it hit me. Yeah there was.

"now that you mention it, there were a few people but I really only remember one other girl. Blond curly hair, grey eyes—"

"Minerva girl…" Alexis mumbled almost inaudibly.

"She pointed out to me the constellation when it first appeared…. I sorta remember her, but only glimpses… I don't know who she is though…" I frowned deeply, trying to remember, but only resulting with that unrelenting pain between my eyes.

"Percy?" she had another question.

"Yeah, Al?"

"Umm.. I don't know if you'll remember or not… but you said this name in your sleep when I came to get you up… and I really don't know what to make off it but.. well—"

"Al, what is it?"

"Percy, who's Annabeth?" she looked up at me sadly as if the question hurt her to ask, but I didn't have much time to register this. The pain between my eyes was growing unbearable. I caught flashes of memories of the blond haired girl. When we were young, then a few when we were older, there was a couple underwater…

"Percy? PERCY!" Alexis yelled, but I was already slipping. I caught one glimpse of me and the blond girl, it was underwater at night, kissing. And with that in my memory now, I blacked out…

**Well? Whatcha think guys? I personally like it, but I might just be delirious considering I finished writing this at 3 o' clock in the morning. Just let me know! And once again there will be no Perxis, only Percabeth!**


	10. Chapter 10: NO EASIER THE SECOND TIME

**Annabeth**

"So how did you get together?" the little eight year old asked, this having to be her millionth question. I was actually quite enjoying myself, but this question hit me hard and my small smile faded.

"It was the last day of the Titan war, after we had defeated Kronos. I guess the point it really clicked was the Gods were rewarding us for our efforts. Grover became Lord of the Wild, Tyson is now the general in the Cyclops army, and I had been given the chance of a lifetime; I got to redesign Olympus after it got destroyed in the war." Her eyes widened. Sure, everyone who came here found out about it, but they rarely got details. "I remember this part so vividly. They called his name and everyone fell silent. He knelt down but they had him stand. 'A great hero must be rewarded.' Poseidon had said. 'Is there anyone here who would deny my son is deserving?' and everyone was still silent, even the Gods who really didn't like him. Then Zeus said 'The Council agrees, Percy Jackson. You shall receive one gift from the Gods.' Percy was shocked. 'Any gift?' he asked, and Zeus nodded, but he really knows nothing about Percy because, and this is something not many people know, he said 'I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries, but, Perseus Jackson-if you wish it-you shall be made a god. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time.' We were all shocked now." Brookes eyes widened.

"Percy is a GOD?" she exclaimed.

"Shh, this will be your favorite part out of all his adventure, I guarantee it. So Percy was astounded, as were the rest of us. 'Um… A god?' he asked uncertainly. Zeus made a small joke and said 'A dimwitted god, apparently…'"

"Percy is NOT dimwitted!" the 8 year old narrowed her eyes dangerously. I laughed gently, thinking myself that he could be at times.

"'But with the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever. The other gods approved of this. I was standing back, horrified. I thought he was going to do it, I really thought I would never get to see him again, and even if I did, he wouldn't be the same. Percy looked back at me, there was this certain light in his eyes and I knew he couldn't, he just couldn't. It would crush me. He looked back at the Council confidently and I was sure he was going to say yes. A simple three letters that would have torn my heart into pieces. But he only said two. 'No.'" Brooke looked at me with awe in her wide eyes. "he instead made them swear on the River Styx that they would claim all of their children by the time they're thirteen, and that the minor gods get respect, because the reason Kronos was able to rise in the first place was because we were ignoring them, so they sided with him, hoping to get a better place in the world. We used to only have twelve cabins, we added on eight more and are still considering adding more, all because of Percy. He finally got them the respect that they deserved. But anyway, back to your actual question. Well, I had liked Percy longer than I would like to admit, even though he was constantly driving me over the edge. It was that night, after the craziness had settled down somewhat. After dinner, he stayed at the Dining Pavilion and Tyson helped me make him this giant cupcake. I brought it over to him; I remember wondering where everyone else was. So I went over and gave it to him, telling him happy birthday. He had apparently, in all the commotion, forgotten about it all together. We talked for a bit and I told him 'You saved the world' he responded shaking his head 'We saved the world' after that he kept trying to find the words to tell me he liked me but he wasn't doing very well, I was smiling at the attempt. 'You're laughing at me' he'd complained. 'I am not!' I said back but on the inside I was. He was smiling at me when he said 'you are _so_ not making this easy for me.' I put my arms around his neck…" I could feel myself blushing deeply, but I was not smiling. It would be nice to tell this if he was still here. "and said 'I am never, _ever_ going to make things easy for you, Seaweed Brain. Get used to it.' And we kissed. Almost everyone from camp had been watching us, so Clarisse comes out and they go and throw us in the lake…" a tear was rolling down my cheek. "He made an air bubble at the bottom of the lake for us and we kissed again. From there on out it was pretty much straight forward. I had told him once that nothing could ever break us apart. But now I know that was one thing where I was wrong…" I sighed and this time Brooke comforted me. Sometimes I wonder if she isn't a teenager in that little kid body.

"He'll remember you, Annabeth. And if he doesn't, when that boat is finished, we'll go smack some sense back into him." She said, making me smile.

"Small problem…. He's invincible." She laughed a little.

"There's always a complication." A voice said in the doorway. I looked up to see my best friend, Thalia, in her skinny jeans, combat boots, Death-to-Barbie t-shirt under her silver vest, and the silver tiara on top of her spiky black hair.

"Yeah, there is." I sighed again. "Brooke, this is Thalia." Her eyes got even bigger, which I didn't see how that was possible.

"You were a tree." Was all she said, and I couldn't help but laugh at Thalia's uncomfortable expression.

"Yup…" she answered popping on the p. "Thalia the tree. Also known as Thalia, daughter of Zeus or Thalia, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, but Thalia, 'the girl who was a tree' works too, I guess." Brooke laughed again.

"So, Thalia, 'the girl who was a tree'… what brings you to camp?" I ask

"Well, I thought that since we know where Seaweed Brain is, there's no point in my hunters searching, and we're going to help with the ship. Oh! And I also contacted Tyson to help. That will cut the building time almost in half." I thanked the gods for Thalia. What would I do without her?

"Thanks, Thals. So I just got done telling Brooke about all of our adventures."

"Yeah, I heard the ending. So that's how it actually ended up happening? Wish I was there, but I guess I couldn't have helped throw you in anyway, considering both my legs were broken." She scowled at the memory.

"But… WOW! You're Thalia!" Brooke exclaimed, like she was meeting a movie star. "Did you and Percy really not like each other for a while?"

"Well… I wouldn't say that. Just that our relationship was rocky. We were too alike for our own good…"

"WOW!" she said again, and I smiled.

"Sweetie, it's late, your cabin is going to be worried about you… you should get some sleep. We've got a long couple of weeks ahead of us…"

"Okay…" she said sadly as she climbed down from the bed. "And Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. I needed that."

"Anytime Brooke." And with that she left me and Thalia in the cabin. "So earlier I broke the news to Paul and Sally…"

"Oh… did you tell them the good news, the bad news, the worse news, or the worst news?"

"All of it, of course. You can't exactly tell them one thing without explaining the others…"

"True… how did they take it?"

"Well, the euphoria from the good news lasted until I told them the worst news… they kinda cancelled each other out…"

"Oh…" and there wasn't much more to say.

"Thanks for coming Thalia."

"Of course. You're my best friend. And despite how annoying he can get, so is Seaweed Brain. I like Brooke's outlook though. Either he remembers you, or we'll _make _him remember you. And if there's another girl at that Roman camp that makes him forget about or hurt you in any way shape or form, they're both going to be answering to my arrows." She let the threat hang in the air, and then sighed. I wanted to smile, but she had just stated a possibility that I really didn't want to think about. "I really do miss bickering with him… and if you ever tell him this I will have to make you suffer, but he was a really good leader… he knew what the camp needed to survive and grow."

"Thals…" I smiled, though tears were still silently flowing down my face. "We all miss him…"

"Some a little more than others…" she prompted, a self-satisfied smirk spread across her face. But I wasn't in ht emood to joke.

"But what if he _doesn't _remember? Then what? I wouldn't be able to stand that after all we went through if he left me for some Roman …"

"Annie…" she said softly and plopped down next to me. You could tell I was distraught if I was letting someone (even if it was Thalia) call me Annie without protest. "I really doubt that. The reason I make jokes is that if he manages to find a girl in a few months, he'd have changed too much to be the same Percy Jackson you fell in love with. You know, the one who despite all of our hints and clue-ins, took _four years _to admit the feelings that he obviously had for you." She gave me a sad smile which I returned tiredly. "Now I should probably get back to my hunters before they start killing people, mainly boys and Aphrodite campers. You should get some sleep…. I doubt it would help us to build the ship if our main architect was too dead tired to walk in a straight line. And if Percy does remember you, I doubt he would be real happy with anyone to see his girlfriend like this…"

"I get it, I get it. I'm nodding off as we speak. Go prevent anyone getting arrows through their heads." She gave me a concerned look, as if she didn't believe me.

"Okay, Annie." She said skeptically, but she knew it was futile to argue. "I'll go… see you in the morning to work on the boat." And with that she slipped out the door. I picked up the scrapbook again and flipped it open to the first page. You could tell where the Aphrodite campers had already though Percy and I liked each other after the Sea of Monsters (which is more or less true) because the first picture was me kissing him on the cheek after the chariot race. I smiled a this. I looked at a few more pictures, which included the important ones like when he came back from Calypso's island and I hugged him after thinking he'd been dead for two weeks, our first real kiss at the dining Pavilion, us being dumped in the lake, and many from there on out, but I dozed off.

My dream started out with flashes of memories, all of which included me and Percy, each one speeding up until all I saw was a blur of scenes whizzing through my head until it finally settled on the night before he disappeared.

~O~

_"I _sooo _beat you." I said pushing him playfully. We had been running from the beach to the cabin area, racing just for the fun of it._

_ "Only because you cheated, Wise Girl."_

_ "I did _NOT _cheat!" I huffed indignantly._

_ "I know…" he sighed. "I just wanted to see if it would work and I could give people a good reason for why I can _never _win…" I laughed_

_ "Being you is a valid reason for why you can't beat me. You're too much of a Seaweed brain." He so maturely (_note the sarcasm) _stuck his tongue out at me as we arrived, slightly breathless, in front of the Athena cabin. _

_ "Doesn't mean I have to like it…" he grumbled, but smiled teasingly. He pulled me in, looping his arms around my waist as I did the same with mine around his neck, pulling myself to kiss him. After a moment we broke apart, smiling and slightly giddy. "Goodnight, Wise Girl." He said, kissing my forehead this time. "I'll see you in the morning." He didn't mean to lie to me, he just didn't know that he wouldn't be here to keep his promise._

_ "What? So I can kick your sorry butt in… well, everything, again?" I said unlooping my arms from around his neck, but his arms stayed around my waist, keeping me close to him._

_ "In your dreams." He said with that cocky grin of his that made the Aphrodite girls swoon over him so much, with that I walked into my cabin, a silly grin still glued on my face, and sank into my bed._

_ The next morning I got up and lead my cabin to breakfast, looking forward to my usual morning greeting from Percy. But when I got to the Pavilion, he wasn't there. I waited at my table for him to come in all groggy and disheveled as usual and watch his eyes light up like they always did when they saw me, but he didn't come. I didn't see he green eyes anywhere. Probably one of those few days where he sleeps through breakfast and I have to go get him up afterwards, I thought, but a bad feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. That doesn't mean anything, Annabeth, I thought to myself, he's just fine; the war is over, no one has plotted to kill him (or at least had a reason to). I finished breakfast early due to a sudden lack of appetite, and headed over to the cabin areas._

_ KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! I pounded on the door._

_ "Perseus Jackson, you get up this instant! Stop being lazy and get ready for your classes!" no response, or any sound for that matter, came from inside. "Percy?" I asked uncertainly. After a few more seconds of silence I barged in to find his bed unmade and all of his stuff strewn messily across the cabin. Such a Seaweed Brain, I thought for a second, then I ran out of the cabin and back to the Pavilion where a few campers were still finishing their meals or hanging out and talking._

_ "Chiron!" I sprinted over to where he stood. "Chiron! I can't find Percy!" I told him frantically._

_ "Calm, child." He told me soothingly. "He must be around somewhere." I wasn't so sure._

_ "he's not in his cabin, he's not over by the beach because I passed it on the way here. I'll go check the arena! You can have others check the woods." I told him, not giving him enough time to respond before sprinting back out, and running towards the arena. I looked around. A few Ares campers had started training, but no familiar messy black hair was to be seen. I don't know why he would've gone into the woods this early alone but it was the only place left to look. I hoped I had blown this way out of proportion and they would find him somewhere and I would yell at him to be more careful for a while until he would interrupt me and laugh and say 'Really Wise Girl, I'm fine. Relax.' But as the hours passed, the search groups came back and all said the same thing, they had no idea where Percy was…_

~O~

I woke up feeling cold and empty inside the Poseidon cabin with the scrapbook clutched to my chest as if my life depended on it. I sighed, having relived one of the worst days of my life.

"Where ever you are, Percy…" I whispered softly. "know this… I love you, and I always will… I will not stop until you're back with me.." and with that, I slumped back into his bed, knowing that sleep would not come anytime soon


	11. Chapter 11: WELL THEN, WHAT NOW?

**Alexis**

"Percy?" I scream. What happened? Did I do something? Oh no! is he still breathing? Gods, Percy! Please live, I don't want you to die! "PERCY?" I grabbed his arm and tried to shake him awake, knowing it was futile "Deorum!" I exclaimed in frustration. Placing my hand on his chest, I checked carefully for a heartbeat. A heartbeat that wasn't there. Oh Gods, no! What should I do? I should go and get help but what if something happens while I'm gone? "Percy! Wake up, Percy! Please! Wake up!" I sank to my knees by his side, tears streaming down my face for this boy I barely knew, but still cared for. "Percy…" my voice broke, already sounding small and far away.

STOPT IT ALEXIS! This isn't the girl that made it to the First Legion being the child of a minor god. This wasn't the girl who had worked tirelessly and endlessly to perfect my sword wielding techniques. This was most certainly _not _the girl who had fought in the Titan war in the thick of the battle and survived. I pulled back my arm and slapped him across the face. I think I broke a few bones in my hand. How is this possible? Wait—could he have- no, not possible… Quickly, I pulled out the knife I always keep in my boot and pray that I'm wrong.

I pull up his wrist and dig the blade into his arm. Nothing… not a scratch, not a single thing to suggest that he should have just had his arm almost cut in half. Gods, he couldn't die! I ran to the ocean and cupped my hands getting a scoop of cold saltwater. I mumbled an unintelligible curse under my breath and ran back over to his side, splashing the water in his face, hoping for any result. Almost immediately his eyelids fluttered, and he moaned pitifully and clutched his head in his hands.

I flung my arms around him and sobbed in relief. Not the kind of behavior Lupa would expect from a First Legion Tiro.

"A-al? What are you doing?" he asked, struggling to get up, only to slump back to the ground exhausted, holding his head again.

"I-I thought you were dead…" I caught a shaky breath. "I said… that girl's name, and you blacked out. Your h-heart wasn't beating an-and I-I tried everything but nothing worked an-and…" I couldn't finish. He wrapped his arms around me hesitantly and I continued to take shaky breaths until I was calm enough to talk again.

"I-I'm sorry." I say softly and pull away from him. "What happened? I just said her name—"

"Annabeth…" he breathed out softly with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Yeah, Annabeth," I say cautiously, not wanting him to black out again for no reason. "I said her name and you passed out, you weren't breathing. I was terrified. Until I finally threw water in your face, and you woke up…"

"I started to remember… I don't remember much, but it's better than nothing…"

"What did you remember?" I ask nervously. UGH! STOP THIS ALEXIS! If she's his girlfriend, you've gotten your hopes up for no reason… if she's not… STOP! Don't even _think _about it.

"She was my…" he paused as if trying to think of the right word. "You could say she was my best friend. We met when I was twelve. I-I…" he clutched his head as if it hurt to remember. "I had just fought some monster. I can't remember that, but I got hurt and she nursed me back to health… I saw just small flashes of memories after that… I can't recall them very easily…" then I remembered the knife earlier.

"Um, Percy? What do you think of when I say the River Styx?" he winced. I got ready to go get more water if he blacked out.

"Pain. An intense burning pain… and this short scene…" his emotional mortal point. That's what the scene is.

"Do you remember this scene?"

"Um… it's blurry but… I had, um, fallen—yeah, that's it—I had fallen out of my canoe into some lake… and… uhh… Annabeth was standing on the pier above me laughing…" _she _was his mortal point! They couldn't have just been friends… "And she helped pull me out of the lake, and once she did that I was out of the river." Remember, he's here now and barely remembers her… It felt so wrong, but then again, it always did.

"Do you know what it means that you bathed in the River Styx?"

"I'm invulnerable…" he said as if he just remembered something else, and he shuddered with a pained look in his eyes. "You know what? it's getting late. We should get some sleep. I mean, I have to meet with this Lupa person tomorrow—"

"Lupa's not a person, she's a wolf."

"Okay, so I have to meet this Lupa wolf and talk about this whole thing with the gods and whatnot, then we have a day full of training. And I remember this much, whatever you do, for the sake of other's safety, keep me away from archery." He told me with a small, mysterious twinkle in his eye, as if he'd just shared an inside joke with me. Then he got up, and walked towards the Alveus. Would this ever work out? Doesn't look like it… Sigh.

I walked over to the modest Nyx cabin, black as night, enchanted to make it twinkle with stars. I flopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling, which alternated showing different constellations. As I laid there I studied it carefully when it came to the Huntress. This had been a person once. An actual live person that was now a grouping of stars. It was hard to wrap my head around. And Percy had KNOWN her. I had a feeling that he remembered more than he let on. I also had a feeling that he'd done a lot of dangerous things in his life. I guess we'll figure out how good he is when it comes time for his test. I fretted about that for a little then I slowly fell into sleep. And boy do I hate dreams, especially this one…

**Sorry that it's soo short, I just've been really busy but I feel I owe you a chapter for not having updated sooner. Anyway R&R!**


	12. Chapter 12: GAINING SUSPICION

**No I know the beginning is going to be boring but I'm trying to make a scenario of how strict the camp is**

**Reyna**

Lupa went down the line of all the patrol units that had been stationed, checking to see if there was anything unusual. There seemed to be a lot more monsters attacking the camp since… no don't think about him! Jason is gone; thinking otherwise will only depress you! Assume he'll never come back, that way you'll never be more disappointed than you are now, and if he does… NO! Get a hold of yourself Reyna! Is talking to yourself a sign of madness? I'll have to talk to the Bacchus kids, see if they can help. Though they rarely do help anyone.

_Reyna! _Snapped a voice in my head. Uh-oh… I had drifted into thought and not realized it until she came to me…

"Sorry, Ma'am!" I said straightening, trying to keep my dignity as a high-ranking officer.

_Report, Praetor! _She growled softly.

"Yes, Ma'am! Sighting: Three Canes Inferi." **(A/N if you don't remember, roman name for a hellhound)**

_Status!_

"Disposed of, Ma'am!"

_Continue!_

"Yes, Ma'am! Sighting: One extremely large Draconis."

_Status!_

"Wounded, camp is on high alert, Ma'am!"

_Continue!_

"Yes, Ma'am! Sighting: Two Mulieres Anguibus." **(A/N if you don't remember, these are gorgons and the Draconis is a dragon, they're just the Latin names)**

_Status!_

"Disposed of, Ma'am!"

_Continue!_

"Yes, Ma'am! Sighting: Demigod; 6'1. Black hair, green eyes, strong build, tan. 16/17 years old, doesn't appear to be armed. Might or might not have been trained."

_Status!_

"Brought to camp, Ma'am! We request that you meet him for the Anean!" **(A/N Latin for test. Yes I am going to continue to bring Latin words in)**

_Reyna, please stay after. I would like to discuss a matter with you…_

We all knew better than to refuse Lupa.

"Yes, Ma'am!"

_Praetor of the Second Legion, Report!—_I zoned out after that again, thinking about the boy… He couldn't have survived to this age without training, or without companions and a weapon. He was a puzzle that I couldn't quite figure out. Some people say that I have the aim of an Apollo camper with the mind of a Minerva, so that if something confuses me I will not stop until I figure it out. It's more of a flaw than anything, really. Sometimes I just want to think of the arrow piercing its target, but nooooo, the other part of my mind has to think about the inertia and angle of projection.

_Reyna… _Lupa's voice was once again echoing through my head, softer than before now that we were alone.

"Yes, Lupa?" I had to call her ma'am in the presence of others to show respect but having been one of her pups longer than everyone except… Jason… she was less severe when it was just us.

_We haven't had a demigod come to us older than twelve in a long time. Tell me about this half-blood…_

"The truth… I'm really confused, Lupa. Confused and nervous. How could it be that for his whole life he either hasn't been attacked by monsters, or has fought them off well enough that he could survive knowing what he is? He didn't even have a weapon that I could see. I don't think he's a minor demigod either; he's strong, and by the looks of it, I think he's trained. He's confident; you can tell by the way he stands. He has amnesia, for the love of Jupiter! He has no idea who he is, yet he comes marching up to camp, takes the news like he's known all along, and doesn't protest! He's laid back, like he hasn't a worry in the world! That is no way to fight! You need discipline! And strike in an ordely manner!" I feel like I'm about to burst. Maybe I just don't know him. I haven't seen him since I left him with Alexis, after all.

_Reyna! You are overreacting… you do not show weakness!_

"Yes Lupa…" I mumble

_I have spoken with Alexis, and I'm sure I have a good theory for who he is…_

"Who?"

_Go, pup. I will speak with you tomorrow. _Something was wrong; she never held back information from me.

"But Lup—" she cut me off with a growl.

_What was that, Pup?_

"Nothing, Lupa. Sorry, Lupa." I said.

_Good. You are dismissed! _She snarled with a conviction that no one would ever question.

"Yes, Lupa…" I said and I backed out the door, only to freeze outside by what I heard next.

_I see you have played your most desperate card, Lady Juno. I never thought this day would come so soon. You know that we had a huge war not just a few months ago. _What was Juno doing here? She almost never showed up except to give Jason some task, but Jason wasn't here…

"Oh, you know it was necessary. The time has come for you to come together. I am in grave danger from this new challenge as we speak." Juno was in danger? Was that why Jason was gone?

_If you are in need of assistance, we will gladly issue a quest, Lady. _Lupa sneered, as if saving Juno wasn't high on her 'To-Do' list.

"Oh, really, there is no need." Juno waved it off. "Your counterparts are already working towards that goal…" Counterparts? I've never heard of any counterparts to the Roman camp. "What I need from your camp, is to convince my bone-headed, ignorant husband to re-open Olympus. The gods must be present in the world if we wish to stand a chance." No one in the Roman camp has ever gone to Olympus… How are we supposed to get up there? The gods have gone silent? And we were told never to go to New York; it's where the monsters are the strongest. And now we are supposed to travel across the country into the most monster infested place in America to travel to Olympus, which no one has ever gone to, to convince the gods to be part of a war that Jupiter gave the verdict they would not participate in, and if we fail the demigods won't stand a chance against this new, unknown enemy? No problem… If only we still had Jason. He had experience doing the impossible….

_Why not send our 'counterparts' _she said it with contempt _to Olympus? They have more practice with that, and they are closer._

"Lupa, you of all people should know that if the fates picked your camp for this quest, there must be a reason… It would not be good to challenge the fates. It didn't work out too well last time, did it?" I had no idea what she was talking about, but I didn't have much time before there was a bright glow from inside and I had to turn away. I ran back to the Apollo cabin before I could even tempt myself to run in and demand answers.

Slumping down onto my bed, I ran all my new information. It didn't make sense! Who are our counterparts and why doesn't Lupa approve of them? Why, if Juno was in danger, did we not do anything? Why did life get so complicated, just when I thought we might get a break?

Before I knew it, I was asleep….

**MUST READ! First of all, I want to apologize for the bad chapter but it will add some mystery (I hope). Alright. I've gotten about 1 or 2 reviews a chapter (By the way, a thanks to ****The IronRAVEN xvx****! I enjoy reading your review and you have given me the most comments. I really appreciate it!) and if you are reading I would really like to know what you think I could do better, what you like that I'm doing, what you want to happen, the couples you think there should be (though I won't do too much fluff), and other things. I'm here to let you know that I will not post another chapter unless I get either 5 reviews, or for five days. Each review I get, I will take off a day until I post another chapter. If I get a lot of reviews, I might do something like 2 or 3 chapters in one day. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or is following this story!**

**11Lil'MissWriter11**


	13. AUTHOR'S NOTE! READ IF YOU WANT!

**Ok, thank you for all of your responses!**

**rAnDoM-Lafing: Thank you for thinking it's not boring, because if that wasn't boring, I'm sure you won't find the rest of the fanfic boring! I'm glad you enjoy reading it, because where I usually write for my own personal enjoyment of the art, I like it when others find my writing interesting! I'll do the best I can to keep up the good work!**

**Annonn: Thanks, but yeah, it's definitely a filler. I needed to bring Reyna back into the story, and I needed to put the idea of the quest somewhere in there. I needed a way to move the story on from the point it was. So maybe it wasn't really a 'filler' but a 'transition'.**

**PERSONCHEESE: Thanks, I'm happy you like it! I'm glad you brought that up so I can answer it for everyone… here goes…Well, if you remember, Hera appeared to both Jason and Piper at the same time… And about the same amount of time has passed in both camps at this point so I was thinking that whereas she **_**would**_** help with the quest to save her, she was working towards a higher goal at the time by switching Jason and Percy in the first place… so where she would want to help the demigod she was patron for (Jason, if you didn't know, which of course you did but for some reason I felt the need to put this in here) she would also want to help the camp he was from… and she might have a reason to be sending percy on a quest to mount Olympus… A place where a lot happened to him… where his stirring memories might be strong enough to come back to him… you get where I'm going with this? Wow! This was a long answer! Sorry if you found it tedious to read that but if someone took the time to read that, they might have gotten the hint at the end. Anyway…**

**tiffc10: Thank you! This is one of the best reviews I've gotten! You wanna know why? Because you told me what you wanted! Thank you! I told people at the end of the last chapter to tell me what they wanted from the fanfiction I'm writing because it would really help me give you guys something you wanna read! I get why you would feel that way, and I probably made her too big of a role in the story but I'll let you in on a secret… ready…She will not go on the quest… she will not end up with Percy… she will be just as important as the other First Legionaries except, remember, she has the rank of Tiro, which is Latin for Recruit. So she will probably fade into the background a little as the story progresses if that makes you feel better. Really, the only reason I put her in there is to create minor romantic tensions once the Greeks get there 'cause of Aphrodite and all that… wow I get more and more blathery as these reviews go on… **

**And sorry guys but you are the only people that answered the challenge and you will have to wait until about… hmmm… 8/23/11 at about 1:30 before I will put up a new chapter, but because of you guys I might post more than one :P anyway thanks again! I enjoy the feedback I get from you! If you write any stories on here you understand that reviews are how authors know that their work is appreciated… complaints and critiques are how we know we can always improve and **_**what **_**we need to improve on… Praise and approval are how we know that we should keep our dreams and creativity alive so keep commenting!**

**P.S. Sorry that I know that I might've made this one of the longest, most tedious, annoying, run-on Author's Note in the history of Author Notes. And if you took the time to read this entire thing (gods bless you… I don't have that kind of patience) please respond to this saying 'The jelly donuts have taken my sausage' (don't ask me why I chose this, I'm weird, no other explanations) and I will PM you about getting your own character in the Legions (I mean, it can't only have the- what, five?- campers that Rick Riordan provided us from Jason's memory) Please remember bathe your muskrats and polish the toilet seats! Why you ask? Because I said so! Once again, I AM WEIRD! And I embrace it!**

**P.P.S. Please don't actually do the stuff with the muskrats (who owns a muskrat anyway?) and polishing your toilet seat (people are just going to sit on them anyway…) it was silly and a joke. I don't want messages from your parents wondering why I told to go bathe muskrats and polish toilet seat, Ok? Wow, from this last paragraph alone I have probably scared off half my readers! Why you ask? Because I AM WEIRD! And I embrace it! Wait… I already said that…**

**K BYE!**

**11Lil'MissWriter11**

**Peace, Love, Happiness, Faith!**


	14. Chapter 13: I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING

**Hazel**

"-yeah, did you hear about the new kid?-"

"-no memory-"

"-I hear he's totally hot-"

"-test today at the arena-"

"-hope he gets pulverized by that monster-"

"-had a sword when he came-"

"-totally date-worthy-"

Now, as the head of the Venus Cabin there was no possible way for me _not_ to gossip, it's too much fun to watch it fly through camp. The Venus girls who had seen him were practically drooling at the thought of him. The Mars kids (or Martians as most of the camp calls them) were wondering if he would stand a chance in a fight against them or making bets on how fast he would complete the test (the fastest was by an Apollo kid about fifty years ago who killed his grouping of monsters with his bow and arrow in a matter of 58 seconds, but no one has come close to that since). The Minerva cabins were contemplating whether or not they thought he would be a good strategist. The Apollo Cabin was hoping he was good at archery. The Ceres cabin wanted him to be a good gardener.

Really, it was like this with all new campers. I would spread the gossip, and all the cabins, if they deemed them worthy, would hope that they would get put into their cabin. It was great fun to watch. But this time it was even more intense because the thought of a guy who could survive 17 years alone with just a sword to protect him (and he's pretty buff too) would attract the attention of everyone. The fact that he had amnesia only made him more intriguing. The Mercury cabin was really hoping that he wouldn't be claimed soon because they knew he wasn't a Mercury kid, but apparently he had a good sense of humor.

"Percy! Wake up!" I go over to him, and try to shake him awake. Reyna wanted to spar with him, test his abilities. She might not be the best person, though, because where she was good with a sword, she preferred her bow better. I leaned down so my mouth was about half a foot away from his year. "PERCY!" I yell.  
>He jerked up, almost crashing into me.<p>

"What was all that about?" he demands, but he's fully awake now.

"Reyna wants to spar, get you ready for your test." I tell him with a sweet smile. He smiles back nicely. Oh gods, he's cute.

"Okay, will someone explain this test to me?" he asks

"Well, I'm sure Lupa will give you the specifics later when you talk but basically… The certain part of the arena you will enter through analyzes you (magic courtesy of Trivia); but like your strengths, your weaknesses, your fears, etc... It's kinda funny when it's a Minerva camper and they have to fight a giant spider monster. They absolutely FREAK." He laughed with me. "Anyway, by the end of the test, if you have survived, it will help us determine your parentage and we know what legion to put you in because the gods will sometimes claim you or send the Legion number you are meant to be in."

"Okay, wait! _If_ I survive? And what are the Legions?"

"Yeah well, sometimes people die but I wouldn't worry, the last person that died was a Ceres kid. And the Legions, I guess they're like your rank in the Roman Century. The Century is all of us together. Normally in the olden days, to fight wars there would be a lot of Centuries but now we are all just one. The Legions, well, there are five of them in the Century, Legion five is for beginners and younger kids, First Legion being all the people who have mastered the skills needed and are ready to be put on the front line of war. The others are in between. The better you get, the higher the legion you get put in. Then there are ranks within the Legions. Praetor is the leader of the entire legion. Then it goes down to Imperator, or Commander. After that is Legatus, or Lieutenant. Then the rest are either Legionaries, which is just soldiers, or Tiro, a recruit." (**A/N I hope that cleared some of that up for anyone who's confused)**

"Ok. So Reyna is going to help me get ready for this?"

"The best that she can do, really, is get you warmed up. Make sure you know which end to hold the sword by before you go in." I laughed. But I'm not sure what to make of him. He has a sword so he's obviously fought before, but he has no memory of how he's fought. Maybe muscle memory? "Anyway, here we are!" I announced cheerily as we stepped into the clearing where Reyna stood. She looked him over, trying to see where he'd be the weakest, where to aim for in a fight. She did this to everyone who came. No new kid ever stood a chance, but this time I wasn't so sure. He walked over and pulled a pen out of his pocket. Why in the name of Pluto woul—OH! He had uncapped the pen and it grew to a celestial bonze sword, three feet of deadly metal. Its build was different but it was still deadly sharp.

Reyna swung her sword, waiting for the best time to strike. He eyed her blade warily. It was longer than his, a traditional Gladius. He made an experimental jab at her torso and she parried easily. She smirked, thinking it would be an easily won match. Her sword twisted around his, hoping to lock hilts and disarm him, but he seemed to know what she was trying to accomplish. He stepped closer, which is a must when you have the shorter weapon, his blade fluidly moving around her strikes and blocks. She was trying to be purely offensive, like taught. But he fought strangely, constantly switching between offense and defense to whatever suited his needs. They went back and forth for a while, Reyna's style orderly and harsh, his rhythmic and steady. She looked frustrated, almost no one lasted this long against her, but he'd barely broken a sweat. She tried pushing him harder, I almost couldn't watch, hoping he wouldn't get hurt. It went on for about two more minutes before a sharp clang echoed through the clearing. The sound of a sword hitting the ground. I opened my eyes and was astonished by what I saw. Percy, the new kid with no memory, had his sword at the throat of the First Legion Praetor, her sword laid alone on the ground. Both of their eyes were wide, as if neither had expected this to happen. Then a smile broke out on Reyna's face.

"You're going to make a good soldier, Percy." Reyna said, still smiling for one of the first times since Jason disappeared. "I hope you do well on your test." They shook hands and she walked out of the clearing.

**I know I promised that I would have it up by 1:30 so sorry! But my bros took my computer so I couldn't get started until 1:00! Anyway, enjoy!**


	15. Chapter 14: MEMORIES THAT SLIP AWAY

**Percy**

Before Hazel,-a small brunette with bright green eyes, daughter of Aphro-Venus, sorry- got me up to fight Reyna, I'd been dreaming about my past. Most of it just flashes here of random bits and pieces that made no sense. A couple of times I saw Annabeth but the scenes were out of order and rather than give answers, they created more questions. Truth be told, yes, I had remembered Annabeth, but as soon as I had woken back up, they started slipping away again; I only had the vaguest of impressions of who she actually was in my life. I know she was important, but it wasn't specific. Then I landed on one memory that really confused me.

~O~

_ "Well?" Annabeth said from behind me, but we were both about twelve or thirteen. "Go on." Prompting me to walk forward into a small cabin. It was painted brown but it was peeling away, giving it an ancient feel to it. The inside was packed with kids of varying ages. Most were on the floor due to the small amount of bunk beds. I walked forward, tripping on my way in. There were snickers coming from around the room. "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."_

_ "Regular or undetermined?" someone asked. I wasn't sure what to say but Annabeth answered for me._

_ "Undetermined." Everybody groaned, as if I were just another huge burden forced upon them. A guy, slightly older than the rest, stepped forward. "Now, now, campers." He said soothingly. "That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." He said pointing to a small section of the cabin. He was about nineteen. Tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile; he seemed pretty cool. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash._

_ "This is Luke." Annabeth said, blushing slightly. Then the scene changed._

_ I was in the forest, sitting by a creek. It all looked so familiar but it was hard to focus on that with the scorpion sitting carefully on my knee, its eyes filled with hatred. Luke stood next to me, a sword with two metals fused together, bronze and steel in one weapon. He grinned like he was enjoying the fact that I might die._

_ "You should've died in Tartarus, Percy." He said. This made no sense. In the other memory he'd been so nice. "But don't worry, I'll leave you with my little friend to set things right." _

_ "Thalia gave her life to save you," I said gritting my teeth, though I didn't know who Thalia was. "And this is how you repay her?"_

_ "Don't speak of Thalia!" H shouted at me. "The gods __**let**__ her die! That's one of the many things they will pay for."_

_ "You're being used, Luke." I told him, not knowing what this was about. "You and Ares both. Don't Listen to Kronos." My eyes were still fixated on the scorpion._

_ "__**I've**__ been used?" Luke's voice was shrill now. "Look at yourself. What has your dad ever done for you? Kronos will rise. You've only delayed his plans. He will cast the Olympians into Tartarus and drive humanity back into their caves. All except the strongest—the ones who serve him."_

_ "Call off the bug," I said, my voice seething. "If you're so strong, fight me yourself." He smiled._

_ "Nice try, Percy. But I'm not Ares. You can't bait me. My lord is waiting, and he's got plenty of quests for me to undertake."_

_ "Luke—"_

_ "Good-bye, Percy." He said, excitedly. "There is a new Golden Age coming. You won't be part of it." He slashed his sword through the air and disappeared in a ripple of darkness. The scorpion lunged. Then the scene changed again,_

_ My hand reached forward and touched the lid of a coffin, solid gold. The weird part was I was invisible, I couldn't see my hand. The second my skin brushed the lid, frost gathered around it and my fingers turned blue. I heard voice from behind me and made a decision quickly. I pushed back the lid and it landed on the floor with a giant WHOOOOM! I lifted the sword in my hands, ready to strike what was in there, to kill it before it could come back to life. But when I looked inside, I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. It was Luke, except there was one piece of him missing; a clean black hole the size of a bullet wound right where his heart would be. I was too stunned to do anything. Before I snapped out of it, the voices were right behind me._

_ "What has happened?" one of the demons that entered the room cried out._

_ "Careful!" another warned. "Perhaps he stirs. We must present the gifts now. Immediately!" the two shuffled forward and knelt, holding up a scythe on a wrapping cloth._

_ "My lord," one said. "Your symbol of power is remade." Silence._

_ "You fool," the other muttered. "He requires the Half-blood first." The demigod that had entered with them, a boy with a patch over one eye, dressed in armor, took a step back._

_ "Whoa, what do you mean he requires me?" he asked nervously._

_ "Don't be a coward!" the first demon hissed. "He does not require your death. Only your allegiance. Pledge him your service. Renounce the gods. That is all."_

_ "No!" I yelled, stepping forward and taking off a baseball cap from my head, becoming visible again. "Ethan, don't!"_

_ "Trespasser!" the demon-thing snarled. "The master will deal with you soon enough. Hurry, boy!"_

_ "Ethan," I pleaded. "Don't listen to them. Help me destroy it." He turned towards me, the eye-patch blending in with the shadows on his face. His expression held something that looked like pity._

_ "I told you not to spare me, Percy." He said. I still had no idea what this was about. "'An eye for an eye.' You ever heard that saying? I learned what it means the hard way—when I discovered my godly parent. I'm the child of Nemesis, Goddess of Revenge. And this is what I was made to do." He turned towards the coffin. "I renounce the gods! What have they ever done for me? I will see them destroyed. I will serve Kronos." A wisp of blue smoke emerged from the ground at his feet. It rose above the coffin then settled into the hole in Luke's chest. He sat bolt upright, as if he'd just been shocked. He opened his eyes and they were no longer blue, they were gold. He turned towards the demons and Ethan, the demigod._

_ "The body has been well prepared." His voice was ancient, like a razor blade on my skin. "Don't you think so, Percy Jackson?" he asked turning to face me. I couldn't move. It was like I was frozen there with shock. "Luke feared you." He said. "His jealousy and hatred have been powerful tools. It has kept him obedient. For that I thank you." He looked calmly over the demons and Ethan who were now kneeling and cowering, holding up his scythe. I finally got the nerve and lunged at him, swiping my sword across his chest, but it glanced off like his skin was made of steel. He flicked his hand and I flew across the room, flying into a pillar. He took his scythe by the handle. "Ah… much better," he said. "Backbiter, Luke called it. An appropriate name. Now that it is re-forged completely, it shall indeed __**bite back**__."_

_ "What have you done to Luke?" I groaned. Kronos raised the scythe._

_ "He serves me with his whole being, as I require. The difference is, he feared you, Percy Jackson. I do not." And the scene changed._

_ We were in a throne room. It was a gigantic, and the throne-each of them unique and different- stood ten feet tall. I had been knocked to the side, but standing above me Annabeth was fighting Kronos with her knife._

_ "Luke," she said through gritted teeth. She was battered, bruised and cut up; I wasn't sure where she got the strength to take on the titan lord. "I understand now. You have to trust me." Kronos roared in outrage._

_ "Luke Castellan is dead! His body will burn away as I assume my true form!" he tried to push her blade away from his, but she had the hilts interlocked too tightly._

_ "Your mother," Annabeth grunted out, exhausted. "She saw your fate."_

_ "Service to Kronos!" he roared. "This is my fate!_

_ "No!" Annabeth insisted. He eyes were tearing up, but I wasn't sure whether it was from sadness or pain. "That's not the end, Luke. The prophecy: she saw what you would do. It applies to you!"_

_ "I will crush you child!" Kronos bellowed_

_ "You won't" Annabeth said. "You promised. You're holding Kronos back even now."_

_ "LIES!" Kronos pushed again, and this time Annabeth lost her balance and he slashed her face. Kronos loomed over her, sword raised. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth._

_ "Family, Luke. You promised." She croaked. Kronos staggered back. I saw Grover trying to get up across the throne room but we were both stuck there. Kronos gasped like he couldn't get air but when he spoke it was Luke's voice._

_ "__**Promise.**__" He gasped again. "Annabeth…" he stumbled forward like he couldn't control what he was doing. "You're bleeding…" _

_ "My knife." Annabeth said, trying to raise her dagger, but it clattered to the ground. Her arm was bent, broken. She looked at me pleadingly. "Percy, please…" I could move again. I ran forward and scooped up her knife and knocked backbiter out of Luke's hands; it spun away into the hearth. He barely paid attention. He stepped towards Annabeth, but I put myself in between him and her._

_ "Don't touch her." I said dangerously. Anger rippled across his face and Kronos' voice growled out._

_ "Jackson…" was it me or was his whole body glowing gold. He gasped again. Luke's voice._

_ "He's changing. Help. He's… He's almost ready. He won't need my body anymore. Please-"_

_ "NO!" Kronos bellowed. He looked around for his sword, but it was over by the hearth, glowing among the coals. He stumbled towards it, pushing me aside so hard I landed next to Annabeth, cracking my head against Athena's throne._

_ "The knife, Percy." Annabeth muttered. Her breath was shallow. "Hero… Cursed blade…" Kronos had reached his sword by then. Grasping it, he bellowed in pain and dropped it. His hands were smoking and seared. The hearth had grown red-hot, like the scythe wasn't compatible with it. I saw the image of a young girl with brown hair flickering in the flames, frowning at Kronos disapprovingly. Luke turned and collapsed clutching his ruined hands._

_ "Please, Percy…" I struggled to my feet and stumbled towards him with Annabeth's knife in my hands. I should kill him. That was the plan. He looked up as if he knew what I was thinking. _

_ "You can't…Can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can…can keep him controlled." He was definitely glowing now, smoke rising off his skin. I raised the knife and was about to strike when I heard a young girl's voice in my head. __**You are not the Hero**__, it said, __**it will affect what you do.**__ "Please," Luke pleaded. "No time." A line echoed through my head. __**Hero's soul cursed blade shall reap.**__ My whole world tipped and I handed Luke the knife. Grover yelped somewhere behind me._

_ 'Percy?" he asked. "Are you…" Crazy. Insane. Off my rocker. Probably. I stood before Luke, defenseless. He unlatched the side straps of his armor, exposing a small piece of skin, just under his left arm. I watched as he stabbed himself there. It wasn't a deep cut, but Luke howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook, throwing me off my feet. An aura of energy surrounded Luke, growing brighter and brighter. I shut my eyes and felt the force of a nuclear explosion blister my skin and crack my lips. It was silent for a long time. I opened my eyes to see Luke sprawled out at the foot of the hearth._

"PERCY!" a voice yelled into my ear, shocking me awake. I was too dazed at first but I soon recognized that the voice belonged to Hazel, Daughter of Venus (and no, not the plant. Or the planet for that matter).

"What was that all about?" I ask, awake but grumpy. I was sure that those were important parts of my past life. Now that I was awake, they were slipping away again, like the ones of Annabeth.

"Reyna wants to spar, get you ready for your test" she says with a sweet smile. And with that, I got up and we headed out.

**Well… Whatcha think? I'd really like to know… Please… for the children…**


	16. Chapter 15: GHOST OF A GIRL

**Annabeth**

"Rise and shine, Wise Girl!" I heard a shout from right next to me. It was Thalia, but that couldn't be right… Thalia almost never got up early… Wait! I sat up quickly, almost hitting my head on the top bunk.

"What time is it?" I ask frantically.

"Time for you to get a watch!" She joked. And if Thalia was up early, she was never in a good mood. "Well…" she looked at the watch on her wrist. "It's about 11 o' clock…"

"OH! I should've been up hours ago! I needed to be at the _Argo_ building!"

"Whoa! Hold your horses there! Leo said to let you sleep, he could over-see the building and I have an idea of how to speed it up a little!"

"Really? How?" I jumped up, still wearing my clothes from yesterday.

"Well… A certain Seaweed Brain has a certain Cyclopes brother who has a certain talent for metalworking…"

"That genius, Thalia!" I exclaimed.

"Nope, that's just me. Now, you got a Drachma? I'm cleaned out and we have an Iris Message to send." I dug through my pockets, pulled my last Drachma and handed it to Thalia. She walked over to the saltwater fountain in the back of the room.

"Open the window over there." She told me and I did as she said. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, accept our offering. Show us Tyson." The rainbow shimmered and soon formed the image of Percy's Cyclopes half-brother.

"Tyson!" I yell to get his attention. He was somewhere underwater, but all underwater places really look the same so it was hard to tell where.

"Annabeth! Thalia!" he started to run at us to give a hug. It's a good thing it was just an Iris Message otherwise we probably would've gotten squeezed to death.

"Whoa, big guy! It's just an Iris message!" Thalia said, taking a step back.

"Oh…" he said sheepishly. Being underwater the sound was weird and echoey. "Have we found Percy?" he asked.

"Well.. yeah, but—" I tried to answer but he cut me off.

"YAY! Where is he? I want to see Percy!"

"Um.. I was trying to say is, we know where he is, we just haven't gotten to him yet…" I answered.

"Where is brother? We go get him!" he said enthusiastically

"Well, the reason we called you is we're making a big flying boat to go get him and we were wondering if you could come to camp and help…"

"Yay! I help build boat to find Percy!" he said, clapping his huge hands

"Um… Yeah, we have to go, Tyson. We'll see you when you come to camp, BYE!" Thalia said quickly and then swiped her hand through the image. "That went well." Thalia muttered.

"He's just excited about finding Percy. I know we've had our share of bad experiences with them but he's actually nice and cares about Percy a lot." I defended Tyson, who had become my friend over the years.

"Yeah, I guess. So whatcha wanna do, Annie?" Thalia asked.

"Sorry Thals, but I don't give a gorgon about what Leo said; I'm working on the boat. And how many times do I have to tell people to stop calling me Annie?" I exclaim, exasperatedly.

"Nuh-uh." Thalia argued stubbornly. "I am not going to stand aside and watch my friend work herself to death for a _boy_!"

"I know you've sworn off boys but Percy is still your cousin and, face-it; you care about him and are worried!"

"I know! But I also care and am worried about you! Look at you! When was the last time you ate? You didn't get dinner last night, or lunch yesterday for that matter! You slept through breakfast this morning! You're going to starve, Annie!"

"Well… how about this? You drag me to the pavilion and demand I get some food, but then I get to go work on the boat and you stop calling me Annie!"

"Sorry, _Annie_… not a chance in Hades am I going to let you lift a finger to help with that boat until you spend some time to _relax_…" I took an exaggerated deep breath, put on a smile and stood up.

"Okay! I'm relaxed. Can I go work on the boat now?" Thalia glared half-heartedly at me.

"Look, Annabeth… I know he means a lot to you, but you can't keep doing this." She looked at me with what seemed like pity. I hated that look. Pity is for the weak. She looked around and took a picture off the wall of his cabin. "What do you see here, Annabeth?" she asked. It was a picture of me and Percy at the beach. He had been chasing after me and when I stumbled he'd tackled me into the sand. An Aphrodite girl had apparently taken a picture and given it to us. We both looked so happy and care-free, back when the hard truth hadn't hit us. Things would not be getting easier. Both of our eyes were sparkling as our foreheads pressed together.

"That's us together on the beach…. Why?" I was curious as to where she was going with this.

"Look at you Annabeth! Happy! You were normal! Or as normal as a half-blood can be. Now follow me…" she didn't give me much of a choice, grabbing my arm and dragging me to the bathroom. "Now look in the mirror and tell me what you see. Because I only see the shadow of what was my best friend."

I looked in the mirror, but what I saw startled me. It was still me, but I looked awful. My skin had turned pale and sallow. Dark circles rimmed the bottom of my eye, which were red and puffy from crying and sunken in, they had lost that shimmer of happiness that I had seen in the picture. My stance was usually tall and proud, but my shoulders were now slouched forward.

"One thing I know is if Percy remembers you, which I'm sure he will unless he wants my arrows up his as—"

"Thalia!"

"Right, sorry. But if he remembers, he will go on a rampage if he finds his girlfriend has turned into a ghost of the person she used to be. He loves _you_ Annabeth, anyone could see that. But this isn't _you_. I officially make it my duty that today you will _RELAX_. Don't worry. It won't kill you. Tyson will be here soon and he'll help on the _Argo_. We will find him, and when we do. I don't want him to see this person right now. I want him to see and remember Annabeth, the strong, fierce, independent person he fell in love with…" wow…

"Since when are you a child of Aphrodite?" I snorted out.

"See! There you go! I've only been here ten minutes and you have some life back in you already!"

"So, relaxing all day?"

"Not necessarily… I don't want to drag you somewhere against your will, but we are going to get rid of this zombie Annabeth if it's the last thing I do!" she walked confidently out of the bathroom. Dramatic exits… must've gotten that from her dad… I sighed then followed.

**URGH! I hate myself right now! I have the slightest of writers block but it's enough to frustrate me! I'm really sorry that I have to keep giving you filler chapters, but Percy's test will be soon, and that will be fun! Please be patient and let me know what you think!**


	17. Chapter 16: EAVESDROPPING

**Reyna**

"Lupa!" I yell, running into the Council room- which Lupa mostly uses the huge space as her home. "Lupa!"

_What is it child?_ My teacher asked, coming out of the shadows.

"Ok, Lupa… I really mean no disrespect… really I don't…. but I need to know… _what the Pluto is going on?"_ I was sure this was going to put me on stable duty for weeks but I was starting to freak out. I put on a calm façade in the clearing but I was nervous now. _Who is Percy?_

_ What do you mean, child?_ She asked, still calm.

"Ok, all I know is this Percy dude shows up. He's sixteen years old! No one has ever lived that long without training! So he shows up with a sword, a celestial bronze sword! And it's not even a traditional Gladius! I swear I've seen that design somewhere but it is definitely _not _Roman!" I was fuming right now. "But I let that fact slide and the fact that he shouldn't even be alive at this age… and we come to the fact that he has no idea who he is! Come on! So I let that slide, keeping him in the Alveus instead of the Mercury cabin and then I decide to help him get ready for the test… so Hazel gets him to meet me in the clearing… and we spar. Can you see where this one is going? We spar and within five minutes, he hasn't broken a sweat and he has me disarmed! No new person has beaten me! Ever! It just doesn't happen! I'm not the best swordsperson but no one should be able to beat me without training, because I have trained my entire life! So I think he has been trained! I don't know where, but he has been! I think you know, and I _need to know! Who is Percy, really?"_ she was silent for a second after my little rant. She seemed to be wondering whether to tell me or not. "Please, Lupa…"

_I wish I could, but it was many years ago when I swore an oath never to tell of it… I wish I could, child_…

"Fine, then. Don't tell me, but we need to get everyone to the arena. He is definitely ready for the test."

_Alright. You tell the councilors. I will meet with this Percy. Bring him here._

"Yes, Lupa." I ran out and over to the Dining Pavilion where everyone was having breakfast. I looked around and finally spotted him. I ran over and grabbed his arm. He spun around to face me, startled. "Lupa would like to speak with you. The Council Room is that building right there. And if I were you, I'd mind your manners." I warned him and as soon as he ran over there I stood in the center of all the tables. "Everyone is to be in the Arena for the test of Percy at noon, sharp! Any that fail to attend will have to run laps around the _entire_ camp! Got it?" there were mumbled replies around the pancakes. After I was finished, I ran over to outside the council room, wondering if Lupa would say anything important.

"-y name is Percy." He said, obviously responding to a question.

_Where are you from, Percy?_ She asked.

"I don't know."

_Do you have a last name?_

"If I do, I don't know it."

_How old are you?_

"Sixteen or seventeen… I don't really know."

_Do you have any parents?_

"I'm getting tired of saying it and you're probably getting tired of hearing it, but I. Do. Not. Know." Ugh, that is _not_ minding your manners. He's going to get himself eaten.

_Do you know what this camp is for?_

"Yeah, it's for kids of the gods."

_Yes, more specifically the Roman gods. You're taking this calmly..._ She observed

"Well, I don't know… I feel like I already knew about it somehow…" what? "but I'm not quite sure how…"

_Very well_. _At noon, I will have Reyna escort you to the arena for your test. I warn you, it will show you your worst fears, it will play on your weaknesses. This is even more dangerous for you now, because you might've known what those were, but you don't know how to fight that now. It will show you what it thinks will break your spirit, but you must rise above that, show us you are above fear, young hero. Show us you are worthy of being a Roman Soldier._

I heard him being dismissed and I hurried away, so I wouldn't be discovered. He came out with a steely, determined look in his eyes. I couldn't help but admire it a little. I really did hope he did well on the test. No matter how hard I try, I am not a leader. Before he went missing, Jason led the entire Century fearlessly into battle against the Titan Krios. He'd killed him with his bare hand, but not before we lost a great number of our soldiers. When Jason toppled Kronos' throne, the Titan lord's essence was destroyed. We were left with a small number of campers, about forty, but he rallied us. He made sure we were still training, still strong. Then it was that horrible night, he walked into the Jupiter cabin and the next morning he was gone. I was left with the role of leader. I am not a leader. I was more use being Jason's right-hand man (or woman). Pointing out the flaws in his plans if they were there, advising him the best I could in tough situation. The camp would be much better off if I left it all on Bobby, but I wouldn't let everyone down like that. This was my duty. But as nervous as I was earlier about Percy and his fighting skill, I saw something now. He had that air of leadership, even if he didn't want to be. He was the kind of person that would inspire troops when the odds seemed stacked against us. He was a leader, and I hoped he was as good as I thought he was, because he would be Praetor in no time. I passed the pavilion and it was buzzing with excitement. It had been a while since we had a test. We don't give anyone a test unless they are over thirteen or they show a certain potential, otherwise we put them in the fifth legion, the lowest rank. Everyone had now heard about the new kid, the amnesiac, the one who beat the Praetor of the First Legion while sparring on his first try, the person no one could figure out, the mystery. Percy wasn't there so I assumed he hadn't gone back for breakfast, I wonder where he is.

I walked around the perimeter of the camp, just thinking, until I came to the beach. Percy was sitting in the sand, looking confused and lost. The waves lapped softly at his feet and his fingers skimmed the top of the water absent mindedly. I walked over to him, but he didn't notice me until I sat down next to me.

"Hey." He said, his voice full of sadness and a hint of longing, what for, I don't know.

"Hi. What's wrong?" I asked, concerned by the way his eyebrows furrowed together in frustration.

"It's harder than you think, not knowing. You'd think I could just move one, but I'm... I need to know what my past was. The beach just seemed like the best place to think."

"Do you... you know, remember anything?"

"Last night…" he hesitated. "I saw something that I think were from my past, but when I woke up… well, it seems that every minute, something from it fades from my mind. I remember that there was this guy and we were fighting him in this giant throne room…" I couldn't be… no it couldn't.

"Who's 'we'"

"Me and this other girl, I think her name is Annabeth. I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Anyway, we were fighting this guy, about twenty-something. I felt like I knew him… but his eyes… they were too ancient and odd… they looked like liquid gold, and his voice was strange, like it didn't belong in that body….." it just couldn't be…. It couldn't, it simply couldn't!

"Do you remember this person's name?"

"No." he said simply, gazing across the ocean. "It's just every once in a while, something will happen and I feel this tingling, like I should know it, or a sense of deja-vu. Then… well, that girl… Annabeth. I kind of remember her, but it's so vague, it's just… it makes no sense. I think she was my girlfriend or something." I sigh on the inside, not because I like him, but because Alexis definitely does and she's not going to be too happy.

"Well, at least you remember something."

"But, if I know one thing, it just makes more questions, makes me want to know more…"

"Oh, well. If I were you, I'd go back to your cabin and rest, with your test being at noon, you'll want to be ready…" he sighed then stood up, giving one last sad look at the sea, as if it held all his answers that he wanted so badly. What had made him lose his memories in the first place?

"Thanks…" he said. "Well, see you later." And he walked away towards the cabins.

"Yeah…." I mumbled, slightly sad now. "See you later…"

**Next chapter (Which I may or may not post today-if not today, early tomorrow) will be about Percy's test. YAY! I've tried hard to get rid of the writers block so I hope you like this!**


	18. Chapter 17: THE TEST

**Percy**

I sat in the Alveus (I'd be put in the mercury cabin if it wasn't apparent who my parent was after the test) waiting. There's not much you can really feel like doing when someone tells you you're about to take a test (and I remember enough to know that I really don't like tests) that will show you your worst fear and target your weaknesses. It's hard to prepare for a test that plays against your mental weaknesses as well as your physical. Then again… no one but Al knew that he was invulnerable except for one spot. It didn't help that I didn't know where that spot was to protect it.

It seemed like days had passed (but that's probably the ADHD from sitting around so long) before Reyna came in. She had an encouraging smile on her face, but you could tell she was kind of worried. Apparently, people died in these tests. I really didn't want to be one of those people.

Walking out of the Alveus, the camp looked deserted. Even if for the past few days I hadn't been able to participate in the activities, there was always one person or another I could hear rushing to get to their next activity. No one was running around or sword fighting or gossiping (Aphr-sorry _Venus_ kids) or making battle plans for capture the flag or pulling pranks (wonder what cabin this is…). Now, no one.

"They're all at the arena already." Reyna said, noticing my confusion.

"Oh… they're all going to be there?" I ask. If I screw up, I don't want the entire camp to see it.

"Don't worry… if you fight the monsters like you did against me, you'll be fine." She assured me. I wasn't so certain. She lead me up to a wall. It looked solid, so I didn't have a clue as to what we were doing here. She put her hand to the wall and it started glow. It turned so bright that I had to close my eyes, but by the time it died down and I opened my eyes and the wall was gone. Instead, there was a small tunnel in front of us. It looked no different from the ones used to go into the arena from any other place. It was a small archway in the stone leading into another wall. I looked at Reyna, waiting for her to go in.

"I can't go in." she said, simply. "It's only supposed to analyze you. If I go in, it will screw it up. You go in, pick a weapon, and press your hand against the wall. When you walk out you'll be faced with your test. And I wouldn't worry about the camp, you most likely won't be able to see them." She pushed me forward into the tunnel and it suddenly looked different. Weapons of every sort lined the wall, which were giving off an eerie glow. I turned back to ask Reyna what that was, but the wall was forming slowly between us. "Good Luck, Percy! You'll do well! I know it!" she yelled past the thin wall and then I couldn't see or hear her anymore. I was in this weird tunnel with a bunch of weapons, about to take a life threatening test to see if I was worthy of becoming a Roman Soldier. Okay, let's get this over with. I took Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it, then looked along the row of shields. All of them were rectangular and huge. _That's not what I fight with_, a voice in my head told me. I had a quick flash of memory, a wristwatch for some reason, but then it was over. I scanned all the way to the end, where there sat a single lonely circular shield. I picked it up and it felt right in my hands. _Good_, the voice said. I grabbed a basic helmet from the shelves, put on the lightest armor I could find and pressed my hand against the wall. Same thing with the blinding light and when I opened my eyes, it wasn't the arena at all.

It was a huge room, underground I think, because the ceiling was dotted stalactites. It gave me a weird feeling, like I knew I shouldn't be here. Wisps of smoke in the forms of people floated by and the air was cold enough to chill me to the bone, But that wasn't the weirdest thing in here. Standing not ten feet in front of me was a small form in bronze armor, a shining bronze knife in her hand. Blond, curly hair flowed down her back from a small helmet on her head. She wore a simple orange t-shirt and jeans under her armor. When she turned around, my insides fluttered a little but I don't know why. Her eyes were a stormy gray, her face set and determined.

"What are you waiting for, Seaweed brain?" a small shock went through my body.

"Annabeth?" I breathed.

"What is it, Percy? We have to hurry!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, right." I said, remembering this was a test. "Where are we? What do we have to do?" she rolled her eyes.

"We're in the underworld, dummy. You of all people should know that! We need to get to the gates and see Hades… or did you change your mind and not want to get your mother back? Because I personally find this way too risky." My mother? What happened to my mother?

"Okay. We just have to get to the gates?" I asked, seemed simple enough. All there was in the way are the ghosts.

"It's harder than that! You think Hades just wants his brother's son, who was sired against an oath, walking up to the palace gates and making demands? You really are slow…"

"Nope, sorry. So what do we have to face?" I ask, looking around for monsters.

"You know… only all the monsters from the entire Fields of Punishment. Not much." She said sarcastically. "We're safe right here, but the moment we start going they'll be all over of, you ready?" I gulped.

"As I'll ever be." She stuck her head around a corner and in front of us was a vast field, filled with nothing but ghosts and the occasional tree, and motioned me forward

"sooner we get going the better, but remember, get to the gates, no matter what. Let's go." She took a step and then took off, me close behind. We'd barely made it ten feet when we were first attacked. It was an entire hoard of hellhounds. About eight of them. When they lunged, Annabeth and I started back-to-back, fending them off, not allowing a single opening for them to hurt us. It took a while, but finally we had taken them all down. Of course, I wasn't hurt, but Annabeth had a few cuts here and there. We ran for the palace again. This time we made it fifteen feet before we were surrounded again, this time it was Dracaena wielding spears and nets, about twenty of them. We were pushed backwards, but I didn't pay attention where. I was concentrating on not getting killed. We had reduced it down ten but Annabeth was hurt. She had slashes all over her body, but she wasn't letting it slow her down. She fought with the same heart as before, but she was wearing down, that much was obvious. Her skin was pale and her eyes were glazing over. Behind us I heard a deep laugh, the voice ancient, like rocks grinding together. Where had I heard it before? I know I have.

"_Come down, little hero, come down." _It crooned. "_Help me rise again._" I felt a force wrap around me, like an invisible hand had just grabbed me. I continued to fight the best I could but I was weak now. It was only then that I paid attention to where we were. It was a cave, slanted downwards, like a tunnel leading to the center of the earth. At the end stood a gaping pit of complete and utter darkness. It seemed to go down forever. I slashed through the Dracaena in front of me and turned towards the pit, the invisible force seemed to be slowly dragging me down. But no, it had said 'help me rise'. It was pulling itself out. I struggled to break free, to no avail. I was focused on stopping the thing in the pit from rising when it happened. A shiver went up my spine and Annabeth cried out behind me. Déjà vu, part of me knew this had happened before. Not in this exact setting but it had happened. I turned around and the invisible force was no longer wrapped around me and I ran over to where Annabeth laid on the ground, not moving.

"Annabeth!" I yelled, but no answer came. In my rage, I killed every last one of the Dracaena around her easily, and knelt down beside her. "Annabeth." I said softly, her eyelashes fluttered open. I looked her over to see what blow had hurt her so badly. All I saw was slashes and cuts, but when I pulled off her breastplate I saw it. A gaping wound in her chest was bleeding severely. Apparently when I was fighting the thing in the pit, she'd been faced with more enemies than she could fend off and one found a chink in her armor. She'd gotten a spear in her chest and she was dying. More monsters started coming down toward the entrance to the cave.

"Percy… go." She breathed out, her voice weak. "Don't die for me… go. Go to Hades, get your mother. Leave me, there's nothing you can do…" her eyes started to stare past me. "Leave, Percy. Go…" she shuddered.

"I won't!" I exclaimed. I wouldn't leave her here to die. "You're not going to die, Annabeth. No… stay with me…" I was scared for this girl. I knew her but I didn't know her, if that makes sense. But I knew she was important to me, she was from my past.

"Don't die for me, Percy…" she said again, softly. She shuddered again and then was motionless on the cold stone floor. The monsters were close now, but I didn't care, I felt miserable.

"NO!" I yelled, the sound echoed loudly off the walls of the cavern. I felt a tug in my gut, painfully jerking. In that second, part of the ceiling started to crack. My vision was tinged with red in my anger. I wasn't going to let her die in vain, nothing would touch her. My gut tugged again, harder and the ceiling exploded. Water poured down through the hole and swirled around in a deadly funnel. It touched down on the ground of the cave a swiftly moved towards the small army of demons rushing towards us. The second they touched the whirling funnel of H2O, they disintegrated. I was left standing in the cavern, knees shaking from exhaustion, Annabeth lay dead behind me, piles of wet monster dust in front of me. Then it all disappeared. He was standing in the middle of the arena, sword in his right hand, shield left on the ground forgotten. The campers in the stand were absolutely silent, shocked looks on all of their faces. The entire arena was soaking wet, the dirt was turned to mud except for a small circle around me which was dry. No one moved until Lupa spoke.

_Welcome, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God, to Camp Jupiter. You are now a part of the First Legion_

**Dramatic! Dunnnn Dunnnn Dunnnnnnnnnn! Lol! Let me know what you think of Percy's test!**


	19. Chapter 18: THE TEST ACCORDING TO REYNA

**Ok, this is just the test from Reyna's POV so if you don't want to re-read the entire thing, just read the last paragraph!**

**Reyna**

After the wall closed up between Percy and me, I raced toward the entrance to the stands of the arena. It wouldn't take long for the test to start. Sure enough, just as I sit down next to Hazel, Gwen an Alexis, he steps into the arena. He's wearing the lightest of armor; it doesn't offer much protection, but it allows much more agility. He had out his bronze sword and in his left hand he held an odd, round shield. The second he stepped out, the chatter in the stands died down. The arena changed until it looked like we were underground. The air was dank and musty, the ground was stone and so was the ceiling-dotted with stalactites- though it seemed miles above us. One of the first things I noticed was there was someone else by him. It was a girl, about his age. She had long, blond, curly hair and shocking gray eyes behind a bronze helmet. She wore armor similar to Percy's and she held a bronze knife in her hand. He stood frozen, staring at her. I guess she was pretty-though very intimidating- but I don't think that's the reason.

"What are you waiting for, Seaweed brain?" she asked, scoffing at him lightly. He seemed shocked. Why'd she call him Seaweed Brain? Was it an inside joke or…

"Annabeth?" he asked softly, like he had the breath knocked out of him. So this was the great Annabeth, the person he remembered. I saw Alexis stiffen slightly below me.

"What is it, Percy?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed, but I saw a smile on her lips. "We have to hurry!"

"Oh, right." He said, getting over the shock of seeing her and remembering his situation. "Where are we? What do we have to do?" Good, find out what you have to do to complete the test.

"We're in the underworld, dummy." She joked. I-among many others in the crowd- gasped. The underworld? I mean, sure we all fear the underworld, but it's never been in any of our test. People just don't go down into the underworld, so they have no reason to fear it badly enough to have it put into their test. "You of all people should know that! We need to get to the gates and see Hades…"

"Hades? Who's Hades?" people all over the stands whispered.

"Hades is the Greek form of Pluto. I don't know why they're using Hades instead of Pluto, now SHHH!" Alec, son of Minerva informed us.

"Or did you change your mind and not want to get your mother back? Because I personally find this way too risky." His mother? Now that was a reason to be in the underworld… but this test wasn't making any sense… UGH! Just when I think I'm close to figuring him out, something like this comes along.

"Okay. We just have to get to the gates?" he asked. No, it seemed too simple.

"It's harder than that! You think Hades just wants his brother's son, who was sired against an oath, walking up to the palace gates and making demands? You really are slow…" Wait, Hades/Pluto's brother? So he's either a son of Jupiter or Neptune!

"Nope, sorry. So what do we have to face?" he looked around, but they weren't in the main part of the underworld yet. Nothing had a reason to attack them there.

"You know… only all the monsters from the entire Fields of Punishment. Not much." She said sarcastically. "We're safe right here, but the moment we start going they'll be all over of, you ready" Percy looked really nervous, and I felt bad for him. Annabeth wasn't doing much to boost his morale, but just being there he seemed livelier than any other time I'd seen him, like he'd found the missing piece to the puzzle.

"As I'll ever be…" he answered simply. She smiled and peeked around the corner of the wall they were behind and looked across the Asphodel fields, empty and deserted except for the ghosts floating around eerily.

"Sooner we get going the better, but remember, get to the gates, no matter what. Let's go." She took a tentative step and then took off sprinting towards Pluto's Palace at the far end. Percy ran right behind her but they didn't make it far before they were surrounded by eight Canes Inferni. They stood back to back and fended them off as if this were the most natural thing.

"That's no fair! He has someone to help him fight!" a son of Mars shouted, but he was quickly shushed. I wasn't so sure. The test always takes mental weaknesses into consideration, so somehow… I didn't think Annabeth was going to be there for a just a helping-hand. The test was going to have Annabeth do something or have something happen to her to test Percy's mental focus and strength. I was getting worried about them as they fought the monsters, but never the less all of the Canes Inferni ended up in a pile of gold dust on the ground. Percy was unharmed, not even the tiniest scratch, and though Annabeth looked pretty beat up she took off running as soon as they were safe, Percy trailing right behind. They only made it a bit farther before twenty Dracaena faced them.

"Oh-no!" Hazel exclaimed. "I've never seen a test this hard before! Do you think he'll be okay?" this started a lot of worried murmurs through the crowd.

"I don't know, Hazel…" I said, focused completely on the fact that though they were still alive, they were being pushed backwards. But they didn't end up at the area where Percy first entered the arena, they entered a large cavern, slanted slightly downwards. What really freaked me out was that at the bottom of the cavern was a yawning pit. It couldn't be… no, not even Percy could be this unlucky…

An inhuman laugh echoed through the arena. A collective shiver ran through the campers, and goose bumps covered my arms. It was a primeval sound, like rocks grinding against each other. Everyone was silent and on the edge of their seats.

"_Come down, little hero, come down." _The voice crooned. "_Help me rise again._" No! it was! Saturn! But how? Percy seemed to be struggling, like an invisible force was dragging him down… No!

Meanwhile, Annabeth fought to take control against more Dracaena than was possible for one person. Percy was able to take out a few while still fighting against the force of the Titan Lord, but it wasn't enough. The only sound that could be heard was the clang of sword (Or knives in Annabeth's case) against each other, until the still air was shattered by a scream. It was a cry of pure pain. Percy turned to face her, apparently breaking free of the invisible force, and ran over, madly swinging his sword through all the remaining monsters, and knelt down beside her.

While she had expertly fended off one Dracaena, another had found a chink in her armor and the spear had gone right into her chest.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled, his voice so full of pain it was almost unbearable to hear him. "Annabeth." He said more softly. He pulled back her armor to examine her wound and we all saw it more clearly. It was a horrible sight, a hole straight through her chest, barely missing her heart.

"Percy… go." She breathed out, her voice weak. "Don't die for me… go. Go to Hades, get your mother. Leave me, there's nothing you can do…" her eyes started to stare past him. "Leave, Percy. Go…" she shuddered. So this was his test. For Roman Soldiers, one of the most valued aspects is loyalty. It was seeing if he would carry on with his quest and leave her there, or stay and try to protect her.

"I won't!" He exclaimed. He wouldn't leave her here to die, I knew that. "You're not going to die, Annabeth. No… stay with me…" I was scared for this girl. I didn't know her but I kinda knew Percy and if she was the only person he could remember, to see her die in front of his eyes would be heart-wrenching.

"Don't die for me, Percy…" she said, almost inaudible. Then she was motionless.

"NO!" Percy's yell shook the entire arena, the rest of us just sat, shocked. We'd had enough death during the war. To watch a girl we didn't even know die (even if it wasn't real) was hard on everyone.

Monsters were beginning to appear at the entrance to the cavern. Percy stood there and all of a sudden the ceiling above us cracked. He doubled over as if he'd been punched in the gut, the ceiling exploded. Water poured down and whirled together in a dangerous, yet beautiful display of absolute power. It sprang forward towards the monsters and they disintegrated the second it touched them. Percy stood there, stunned as the scene around him faded into the normal arena. The ground, normally dirt, was turned to mud from all the water, except for a circle around him, which was completely dry. Everyone was in shocked silence until Lupa announced his Legion.

_Welcome, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God, to Camp Jupiter. You are now a part of the First Legion_

It took a while but then the applause came. I'm pretty sure it started with a Mars kid but soon everyone rushed towards him, whooping and yelling. He still looked dazed, as if he hadn't quite reached the fact that it hadn't actually happened. I could relate. He was raised up on everyone's shoulders and was carried out of the arena towards the Pavilion for a lunch celebration. Though I, personally after seeing that, had lost my appetite.


	20. Chapter 19: A QUEST

**Percy**

After Lupa spoke, it took a few moments, but everyone started cheering as if that was the best thing they'd ever seen. I still had the image of Annabeth dying right in front of me burned into the back of my mind. That would haunt me for a while, that much I know.

They raised me up on my shoulders and headed toward the pavilion for lunch. It was a make-shift party of sorts but it was still fun, or would have been if not for the fact I was in absolute shock. People came up and congratulated me. Apparently it was a big deal to get into the First Legion right away, but I didn't feel too important.

"Hey, dude…" a voice said behind me. "that was some seriously hard-core stuff you did back there." I turned around to see a boy, a little shorter than me, maybe two years younger, with curly brown hair, brown eyes, and a mischievous smile.

"Uh, thanks." I said. I'd gotten a lot of that so he didn't seem any different.

"The name's Dakota, people call me Kota… Son of Mercury." He held out his fist and I hit it with mine.

"Percy." I said back.

"Well, _duh_, dude. Everyone knows you after that, but anyway, nice meeting you. If you feel out of place here, which I can see you do, I can relate. Third oldest in the Mercury cabin so no one pays me much attention. I don't really mind, though. In fact, I find it better this way. I mean, I would get pretty tired if every time I met someone I couldn't just say, 'Hey, I'm Dakota' I'd have to be all. 'hello, welcome to Camp Jupiter. I am Dakota, Son and head of the Mercury cabin, praetor of the blah blah blah Legion, Consul to demigods, defeater of this monster and that monster.'" He said the second one standing straight up, pretending to be all official-looking with a weird expression on his face and adding some accent to his voice. It made me laugh.

"No one takes you seriously either way, Kota." A girl said coming up behind him. She had straight blond hair and gray eyes. She looked a few years younger than me, about Kota's age, but she had the air of authority around her. "Hey, I'm Gwendolyn. Call me that and I'll break your arm, so to everyone I'm Gwen. Daughter of Minerva, goddess of battle strategy an—"

"Yes, yes, battle strategy and wisdom. We all now, princess." Kota joked. Gwen turned a murderous look towards him.

"What did I say about calling me princess, Kota?" she asked, her voice steely calm.

"I know, I know. Got it."

"Then why do you still call me that?"

"Because it annoys you so much." He said grinning while she rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Kota?"

"Yeah, princess?" she gritted her teeth

"Will you do me a favor and _leave_?"

"Sure, but I have one request in return…"

"And do tell, what is that request?" she turned to look up at him, since he was an inch or two taller.

"Well… just don't kill me after I do this, okay?" she looked confused.

"Do, wha—" she was cut off when he kissed her on the cheek and then ran to the back of the line. "UGH! I'm going to kill him!"

"Actually, if I remember. His one request was that you wouldn't kill him after he did that." She turned an annoyed look my way.

"Anyway." The angry girl started. "Minerva isn't a fan of Neptune but you seem like a good guy, and… do you know who that girl was in your test? She looked like a Minerva kid, but she hasn't been to this camp before…"

"Oh, well. Her… that's Annabeth. She was from my past but that's pretty much all I know. I don't know if you guys were told but—"

"You have amnesia… yeah, we were told. I was just hoping you knew her. She's older than anyone in our cabin at the moment. All the older ones, well… in the Titan war…. And they…"

"Oh."

"Yeah. But I'll do anything to get my memory back. If I figure it out, I'll let you know. Ok?"

"Thanks, and good job earlier. Just remember, the test wasn't real." But she looked sad at the thought of it too, even though she didn't know Annabeth.

"Yeah, see you around?"

"Sure." She smiled. " I have to go. I'm helping the rest of my cabin with a plan for capture the flag… hey! If you want, our cabins could make an alliance! You'd be on our team for the game against the Martians and a few others."

"Martians?" she laughed a little.

"Oh, yeah. You don't know. Well, that's the nickname for the Mars cabin. God of War. Full of a bunch of brutes. Good when you need some strength but they have no sense of when it's time to yield. Overboard. Anyway, see you…" and with that she walked away.

"So…" a voice said from next to me. "That was the infamous Annabeth? In your test, I mean." I turned to see Alexis standing next to me in line for food, looking around at anything but me.

"Yeah… I guess…" I said uncertainly. Her head snapped up and her dark eyes met mine.

"Do you remember anything else? About her, I mean…." She waited, looking down at her combat boots.

"Some things better than others but yeah… I have a pretty good idea of who she is now." I sighed. "Or was." I added thinking about the test. "I'm not really sure anymore."

"The only thing I have to say is remember, that a test. It showed you what it thought would break your spirits the most. It's designed to go after your weaknesses. For you, I guess loyalty. You were torn between having to save your mother from Pluto- or as your test called him, Hades…-" she gave me a quizzical look, as if I were a puzzle she was trying to put together, but she didn't have enough pieces yet. "And protecting your… girlfriend." She seemed to struggle saying the last word. "Anyway… I have to tell you something… I had this dream an—" she was cut off by a loud growl from Lupa. She walked into the Pavilion and it instantly quieted.

_Campers, it has become apparent to me that now certain events…_ she looked at me. _Are done, a quest needs to be issued. As you know, the gods have been silent for weeks now and-as much as I wish it wasn't true-enemies that are millennia old are stirring for the first time in ages. I know we just got out of war months ago, in which we lost a great many heroes, but we must prepare, for I fear that history is again repeating itself and the circumstances are dire. Does anyone know the story? _No one spoke up. _I will tell it then… after the first Titan war, when the gods won, the mother of the Titans, Terra, was vengeful. She sired a new race, the giants. Born specifically to kill the gods. The monstrous beings caused havoc throughout the Earth. They were hard opponents, only able to be killed by combination of demigod and a god working together. I am issuing a quest. Three brave half-bloods shall be chosen to travel east. They will have a great many trials to get there, no doubt. The most difficult is once they arrive at their destination, they will have to go up to Olympus and convince the gods to help us. If they fail, we are doomed._

The demigods just stared openly at Lupa as if she had started tap dancing in frilly pink underwear rather than told them about a quest.

"B-but Lupa, Ma'am… no one alive has ever been to Olympus. It's forbidden. We don't even know where it is." Someone pointed out hesitantly from the back of the room. Lupa looked at me for a second, analyzing me with black eyes.

_I know this, but the quest is necessary. I ask our Oracle to step forward!_

The crowd parted to show a short girl with shoulder-length brown hair and hazel eyes. She walked forward to the middle of the pavilion where Lupa had stood moments before. Her voice was quiet, but it echoed around the room.

"I'm afraid to say that the next great prophecy has begun. For those of you who have come in the past months it is… _Seven half-bloods shall answer the call_

_ To storm or fire the world must fall_

_ An oath to keep with a final breath_

_ And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._" She took a deep breath and when she opened her eyes they were a scary green color.

"_Child of the sea, you shall regain what you've lost_

_ Travel east, to your destination, no matter the cost_

_ You risk the gamble, and come up with Zero_

_ The two forces unite, led by the Lost Heroes." _she slumped down, unconscious, but two people ran up and dragged her away. Everyone was silent.

"Well, 'child of the sea'…. That's obviously Percy!" someone finally said to my right. Then everyone broke into quiet murmurs, talking about the quest.

"Who are the lost heroes?" someone else asked

"What if it's Jason?"

_Quiet! Yes, it is Percy's quest. _She turned back to me. _Do you accept your quest, young hero?_

I was unsure of what to do. Everyone had their eyes on me and it made me uncomfortable.

"Yes I do." I promised. Hey, if I didn't, the world was doomed. Might as well try.

_Good. You and two companions of your choice will set out tomorrow at sunrise. Reyna, please help Percy and whomever he chooses to take with him get ready for his quest._

"Yes, Ma'am." Reyna said. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him about the test yet.

_Everyone, please finish your meal and get back to your regularly scheduled courses._

"Yes, Lupa." The entire pavilion chorused, then went back to speaking in hushed tones. Reyna walked over to me, grabbed my arm and then dragged me outside.

"Percy… where to start? Ok, first… who are you taking?" she got straight to the point

"Well… I'm thinking that since I don't know many people here, I should bring Dakota and Gwen." She nodded.

"They're good soldiers. Stay here, I'll get them and then we can get the stuff for your quest."

I waited there, thinking. My first thought went to Annabeth. I know it was just a test, but everything looked and felt so real. I could've actually believed that I watched her die in my arms. But, no… she couldn't be… I'd remembered enough to know that we'd done just about everything together. She had this pet name for me, Seaweed brain, and I called her Wise Girl. We'd spent most of our time in one place, but whenever I tried to remember where, it came up as a blank. I didn't get to think for long before Reyna came back with Kota, who was grinning hugely, and Gwen, who looked slightly annoyed, but happy.

"Dude! You chose us? This is gonna be totally awesome!" he seemed much more laid back than the others, who were harsh, strict, and unforgiving when it came to training.

"Kota! Hello! Fate of the universe resting on our shoulders!" Gwen pointed out. "Try to have a little bit of dignity going in. Scratch that- you wouldn't know classiness if it came and started cartwheeling right in front of your immature face…" she walked off after Reyna leaving a shocked Kota standing next to me.

"Earth to Kota… lets go." I said, pulling him along. Then I smiled knowingly at him. "You like Gwen…." I said, not even asking. I knew.

"What! no way! I mean… she's like a sister and I love her but in a totally friendly way! W-we're like siblings, you know? An—"  
>"Okay, okay." I said, holding my hands up in defeat but he was beet red. "Let's go get the stuff for our quest…"<p>

"Yeah…" he said, the redness fading slightly now. "I'm ready to go kick some monster-butt!" he raced after Reyna and Gwen, I laughed and then followed. In some ways, he reminded me of myself. But i didn't know myself all that well. I enjoyed his enthusiasm, though I don't think this quest is going to be as straight-forward as it sounds….

**Sorry I haven't been updating! I'm getting leg surgery in a few weeks so I had to go in for a CAT scan, and yesterday I went to the State Fair and we had to go school shopping too. And my parent are all like 'you spend too much time on your computer.' And 'be out in the living room with the family' and then my brothers steal my laptop and with a broken leg there isn't much I can do about that… wow I'm rambling. Anyway, SORRY! And I'll try to be consistent about posting chapters!**


	21. Chapter 20: THE SUNSET

**Annabeth**

I kept trying to convince Thalia to let me help with the _Argo ll_ so the closest thing she could got to getting me to relax was making me train enough to keep me busy. That was basically all the day consisted of; Shower (because according to Thalia, I smelled worse than some of the monsters she's been hunting), train, eat, train, try to get Thalia to let me help on the boat, train for a while, eat dinner, sit down by the beach, then go to bed. Really the only part of the day that my brain registered was the beach.

The sun was about to set so I knew I only had about a half hour before curfew. This was only recognized in the back of my mind. The thing I was really thinking about was the sunset, and how it reflected off the surface of the water. I remembered the time Percy had dragged me out here to watch it with him.

~O~

_ "Come on, Wise Girl. It'll be fun." He said, pulling on my arm to try and get me away from my latest blueprint._

_ "I don't see why it's so important." I stated, still looking for any imperfections on the building design. "I can see it just fine from my window."_

_ "But you and I both know that you won't watch it unless I drag you out of here to do just that."_

_ "Percy, unlike you, some people have important stuff to do."_

_ "And unlike you, Annabeth, some people need to take a break from that uber-important work to spend time with others and RELAX…."_

_ "And if I do this with you, do you promise to stop pestering me about it."_

_ "Of course."_

_ "Fine, I'll go with you."_

_ "Good, I would hate to make you do this the hard way." He said with a smirk, knowing I would be curious._

_ "Oh, really. What's this 'hard way'?" I asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly. He smiled._

_ "This." He said simply. He wrapped his arms around my waist, lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder, laughing._

_ "Percy! Put me down!" I yelled, pounding on his back, not hanging down far enough to reach his Achilles heel. The others in my cabin watch in either annoyance or amusement._

_ "You wanted to know. Curiosity killed the cat." He walked out the door, getting some weird looks from younger campers._

_ "And I'm going to kill you if you don't put me down THIS INSTANT!"_

_ "Fine! Jeez! Lighten up, Wise girl!" he said, setting me down on the ground, but not letting go of me._

_ "I'll lighten up when my boyfriend stops kidnapping me in the middle of very important work. I'm redesigning Olympus for the gods' sake!"_

_ "Exactly why you need to calm down. No matter what it is, I'm sure it'll be amazing. It was designed by you, of course." I looped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up to have our lips meet. It was short but still nice._

_ "Know why did you drag me out to the beach this time?"_

_ "The sunset. I doubt you ever take the time to just sit and watch." I sighed and sat down in the sand._

_ "Alright." I said, dejectedly._

_ "Come on, it can't possibly be that bad. Not with me here." He said, plopping down next to me._

_ "You have a huge ego, you know that?" I ask him laying back. He followed suit, then rolled over so he faced me._

_ "When you've saved the earth from certain doom as many times as I have…" he trailed off. "But then again, I wouldn't have made it past the first hour of our first quest without you, so I guess credit goes to you." I laughed softly beside him. _

_He was right, I guess. He deserved to have a bit of an ego, with being the savior of Olympus and whatnot. The sunset WAS pretty, though. About half of the sun still peaked above the horizon and the light that still shone was pink and purple. It was mirrored in the water of the lake in front of us, but fractured with every miniscule wave that came by._

"_Whatcha thinking about, wise girl?" he asked. He'd dragged me out here to watch the sunset and he wasn't even watching it, his gaze was focused on me._

"_You're right, it is really beautiful." I admitted, rolling to face him now._

"_Yeah, it is." He said softly, still not looking at the sky. He leaned forward towards me and whispered, "Told you so." I hit him on the arm, though my hand probably ended up hurting more than him._

"_You're infuriating!"_

"_Yeah…" he admitted, but then he got a cocky lopsided grin on his face. "But that's why you love me."_

"_Sure… that's why." I said sarcastically._

"_But do you know why I love you?" he asked, sparking my curiosity again._

"_Do tell… why do you love me?" I said, with a slight smirk on my face, ready for a witty remark, but what he did next surprised me. He answered it honestly._

"_I love the way you get that cute little frown when you're frustrated or thinking hard. I love the way you're strong when you need to be. I love it when you call me Seaweed brain, because I know you care enough to take the time to give me a pet name. I love the way your hand fits perfectly into mine…" he took my hand when he said this. "Because it lets me know we're meant for each other. I love the fact, no matter how annoying it can get, that you're always there by my side to save my life when I make a stupid move. I love the way you put up with my ignorance and sarcasm all the time. But most of all I love you because you're YOU, and to me, you're perfect. Now how cheesy was I?" he asked with a sheepish grin. It took me a moment to take in all he said, but I eventually answered._

"_Somewhere in between mozzarella and gouda." I said, smiling at him. I registered somewhere in the back of my mind that the sun had almost completely set, making the sky a dark purple, the stars starting to show faintly. "But I love everything about you, including how cheesy you get when you try to tell me you love me." I said. We were both quiet afterwards. Staring up at the sky, even after the conch horn rang out signaling curfew, to look at the stars once the sun was completely down. We both gazed sadly at the Huntress for a second before moving on. I would point out constellations and Percy, being the seaweed brain that he is, would point out random shapes he saw in the stars rather than existing collections of stars. He pointed out one to me, right above us, shining brightly that looked like a heart. I told him the cheesiness from his earlier speech hadn't faded yet, but I nestled into his chest farther. Before I knew it, I was asleep._

_I'm not sure how much time had passed when he woke me up. I just wish it could've been postponed a little longer._

"_Annabeth!" he hissed in my ear, shaking my shoulder softly. It took a few times but I eventually woke up._

"_What?" I demanded, sleepily._

"_We have to go! Harpies!" he whispered, pulling me behind a dune as one passed near us. I was awake now. I motioned for him to follow me around the side of the dune, heading the opposite way the harpy was headed. Soon we were back in front of the Athena cabin, laughing quietly at some of the antics it took to get this far without being caught._

"_Goodnight, seaweed brain." I said, my hand on the doorknob_

"_Sleep tight, Wise Girl." He said, kissing me on the cheek, then running towards the Poseidon cabin. I quietly entered the small gray building and climbed into bed, reliving the night. Maybe taking some time every once in a while to relax wasn't so bad, I thought, maybe that's just what I needed. Then I fell asleep._

~O~

It was just what I needed. Not relaxing, but being around someone who made me relaxed.

"Hey, Annie." A voice said behind me.

"Hi, Rachel." I answered without looking behind me.

"How are you?" she asked, sitting next to me.

"As good as I can be." I said simply.

"I guess that's all you can ever ask for…" she said then turned to me. "I know you miss him, Annabeth. Who doesn't? But he needs you to be strong right now. We'll get him beck, it's just a matter of time!" she said, trying to sound upbeat, but failing.

"I know, I know. It's just hard."

"Everyone knows you're trying your hardest, but they don't know what you're going through right now. I don't know what you're going through right now. You've basically grown up with him since you were twelve and are closer to him than everyone except maybe his parents. If it helps at all, I have a good feeling about this. By the time we get there, he might remember everything!"

"Thanks, Rachel." I said. "Most just give me a sympathetic look, as if they could sympathize! Thanks for trying to understand."

"Anytime. They might not be missing him as much as you, but they still miss him. Keep that in mind and don't be too harsh on them. You might want to get back to your cabin, it's almost curfew. I don't think it's going to help your cause to get eaten by a harpy." I laughed a little.

"Yeah, thanks." I took a deep breath, actually feeling a bit better for the first time in weeks. "we both better get going." We both stood up.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I responded, then I walked away towards the Athena cabin. I hoped I wouldn't get any dreams about him tonight. It was such a naïve hope…

**Hope you liked this chapter! I'm sorry to say that with school on Monday (mixed emotions about it :/) I won't be able to update as much as I like, but I will as much as possible!**


	22. Chapter 21: PREPARATIONS

**Percy**

Reyna brought us to a large stone building (which Reyna informed me was the armory). We were supposed to get all our 'equipment' for this quest, though I had no idea really what we needed to do, then left to get us some ambrosia and nectar-whatever that is.

"So… the prophecy said to travel east, but east to where? We're on the freaking east coast for Jupiter's sake! Almost everywhere is east of us!" Gwen thought aloud while rummaging through armor.

"I don't know, Princess, but I do know one thing! This is gonna be freaking awesome!" Kota practically shouted, causing an echo throughout the building. "We are gonna go kick some serious monster as—" he was cut off by a glare from Gwen. "I mean, we are totally going to rock this quest! Like, find Olympus? Easy. Convince the gods to fight in a war? Simple. Not get killed by monsters or the gods or any other mythical creature/person while completing that? Absoulutely freaking awesome!" Gwen looked up at him with a certain fury.

"Will you take this seriously for a second!" she asked, her tone barely controlled. "If we don't get the gods to take part in this then the world is doomed! How 'freaking awesome' does that sound? Huh?" she fumed, forgetting the armor for a second to seethe at Kota. She stalked over to him getting in his face, but it was hard to think of her as intimidating when she stood five whole inches shorter than him. "Now, Dakota… Sorry to burst your bubble but, POP! There it goes! Too late. It's burst. You could possibly _die_ on this quest. In fact, with your common sense, you most likely _will_. Now could you be- or even pretend to be for the sake of the quest –serious for a minute and do something productive?" she'd quieted down by the end of her rant, but there was still a dangerous light in her eyes. "Oh, gods…" she murmured walking back to the armor. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that…"

The room was quiet now. Dakota was staring at Gwen with a certain gleam in his eye and I smirked a little, but Gwen didn't notice a thing. For a second, the whole scene just seemed so funny-though that's probably my odd sense of humor-and I couldn't help but give a laugh. And that laugh turned into me totally cracking up. Gwen cracked a smile, too, but Kota had never stopped grinning.

"Why are _you_ acting like an idiot now?" Gwen asked, trying to sound irritated, but failing miserably.

"You should hear yourselves." I said, barely able to get control of myself. They started laughing a little too. It was a few minutes before I was calm again. "Gods…" I went through a stack of shields, though I was disappointed that they were all rectangular. After the test, I'm positive that a circular shield is better.

"You looking for a rounded shield?" Gwen asked from beside me now. She had apparently found the armor that she needed because she was currently going through the stack of shields I had just finished searching. "It's an odd choice, yes," she thought aloud again. "But it allows for better maneuverability. The rectangular shape works better for a defensive shield wall, but really only for large groups. If it were me, I'd do a rounded rectangle for a little of both. I would be able to move better and it would still be quite effective for walls…" she babbled on for a while on what she thought would be the perfect armor. "The round shield would also work better with that sword of yours. Traditional Roman gladiators used a curved Gladius to be able to get a shot at their opponent around the rectangular shield, but if using a round shield, your sword works well; it has good reach and is perfectly balanced for you. I can tell by the way you hold it. Though your style of fighting is odd… We're taught to either go on offense and stay on offense until you've taken your opponent down, or go on defense until you see an opening to go to offense and stay like that until your opponent is down. But you…" she gave me a weird look. "You switch constantly between offense and defense, fluidly though, therefore never allowing your attacker the chance to get a proper strike at you. You would defend a blow and then switch to offense until it your attacker chose to strike at you. It's different, but I say also quite effective. Both styles have their advantages and disadvantages, I just hope yours works well for you on the quest…" she finished quietly, pulled out a round shield- just the right size for me- and walked away without another word.

I thought about what she'd said. I'd done what had felt natural during the test, what had felt right. I jogged back over to Gwen once had finished looking at some body armor that looked like it weighed a thousand pounds.

"So, Gwen… I know that the test was supposed to test me if I was strong enough or whatever, but what I don't get is the way it did it… I mean, sure I killed the monsters and escaped the… whatever it is in the pit, but they killed Annabeth and I didn't even end up completing the task of reaching Hades-Pluto, whichever. I don't really know which one right now-Palace to save my mother!"

"Strength isn't always physical." She answered. Could she be any more cryptic? Girls… UGH! Maybe that's why the Oracle doesn't make any sense… because it's always a _girl_. Gwen glanced at me and the confusion must have been written on my face because she sighed exasperatedly and continued. "It isn't just physical strength that makes a true hero… There are also mental and physical strengths and weaknesses. I'm guessing that since we all know you're strong, it targeted your emotional and mental weaknesses… hence, the purpose of the task was your mother's safety but if you went after that target, you would have left Annabeth there. You were very loyal to her, even if you don't know who she is. You gave up the task of saving your mother for trying to protect her. Loyalty is valued greatly among the Legions, so it's a good quality for you to have. The mental strength, I guess, was seeing that after your decision to stay with Annabeth, who was dying or dead at the moment, were you able to keep your cool in the heat of battle. You did okay. You aimed your rage at your enemy which was good, but it also made you reckless. It's not good to be reckless… it can cause fights that are unnecessary and can lead to people who didn't need to die, dying…." She trailed off weakly at the end. She had a faraway look in her eyes, as if caught up in memories (bad ones, I'm guessing by the statement before that).

"Oh…" was all I could say. I pretended to be interested in something on the other side of the building while she wiped away a tear.

"Yeah…" she answered quietly.

"Okay… I got ambrosia, nectar, first aid equipment, some extra changes of clothes, some money, both mortal and Olympian, and a pack for each of you to carry your stuff in." Reyna announced walking in. "They are all on your beds and, Kota, I'd hurry before your siblings steal your stuff and use it for some idiotic prank." He started out the door then turned around, offended.

"Our pranks are genius." He said, narrowing his eyes jokingly. "I'd like to see any of your cabins try to pull off getting itching powder into the socks of every camper while they're sleeping! You can't do it, I say! We. Are. Genius!" he marched

"Tibi. Sunt. Amentibus!" she yelled at him over her shoulder. I cast another confused look towards Gwen, who leaned over and whispered my unasked question to me.

"She told him that they are idiots." I nodded. That made sense.

"Alright… we should go get our stuff…" I said, walking to the door.

"Yeah, let's go." She agreed, then the three of us left.

I was about halfway to my cabin when Alexis ran up to me, her black hair flying out behind her.

"Whoa! Slow down there!" I said as she stopped inches in front of me.

"Sorry but I had to tell you. It completely spaced my mind earlier when we were talking and I wouldn't have had any other time to tell you, but I needed to warn you. I had a dream… Tarpeia! It was about Tarpeia! It has something to do with your quest. I don't know what but I know that if I'm right, this is really not good! What are we going to do? Wh—"

"Whoa! Who's Tarpeia? And what would it have to do with our quest?" she looked like she was about to answer but then a howl rang through the air.

"Dang! I have to get to archery! If I'm late, I get stable duty for a week! Ask Gwen! She'll tell you… and I… I just wanted to say that since you're leaving at dawn tomorrow and I probably won't get to see you for a while… good luck." She rushed through it as if she couldn't talk fast enough. I was about to tell her to calm down when she kissed me on the cheek. "I know you'll do really well." Then she ran off to archery. I couldn't help but stand there and stare after her. She was nice and kind of cute, but it just seemed wrong to let someone kiss me. I don't know… my head started hurting and an image flashed up in my mind…

I was underwater with Annabeth, laughing. I'd created an air bubble around us and people were standing on the dock above us. She had her arms looped around my neck and mine around her waist.

_I'm never ever going to make things easy for you, Seaweed brain…_ her voice rang out in my head. _Get used to it_. Then we kissed, and it seemed like the most amazing moment ever.

Then I was jerked back into reality. That's why it felt so wrong… I knew for sure know… then I realized something. The memory hadn't slipped away. It was strong among the nothingness of where my memories should be but weren't. Maybe this is the way they would be from now on…. I hope. I walked into my cabin, pushed the equipment onto the floor, flopped down on my back and kept playing the memory over and over again in my mind. It seemed like in that one memory, my world had been perfect. I really wanted to get back to that, but first I had a quest. I sat up and put all of the armor I'd gotten into the duffel bag and continued packing until I heard the howl that signaled it was time for lights-out. My last night in the Neptune cabin. Hopefully it was a good one…

**Not my best, I know. But please tell me what you think! I really appreciate all of the reviews you give! I hate school!**


	23. Chapter 22: A PROMISE HE COULDN'T KEEP

**Annabeth**

_ The room was dark. That's really all I could tell you._

_ And I'm not talking 'Oh, I can't really see anything…' dark, more like your essence slowly ebbing away into the infinite nothingness. This is just a dream, I told myself, you're fine, there's a way out, just think…_

_ The air itself seemed to give off a subtle glow, though it didn't do much to give me any idea of my surroundings. I started walking, as any logical person should, to see if there was some sort of wall that I could follow, but no, it wasn't that easy. I could have been walking for mere minutes or for days on end, I couldn't have told the difference right then._

_ I tried to call out, too see if there was anyone else, but it came out a strangled, twisted noise, full of pain and was quickly swallowed into the obscurity._

_ Life just seemed to enjoy messing with me, it seemed. When I was younger, I was convinced that Life itself tried to screw our lives up so badly in hopes of one day making us break down and give in. I remember that after a few unlucky encounters with monsters after they found me, I told Luke and Thalia this and they laughed. It wasn't at me, more of a 'that is SO true' kind of laugh but then I will never forget what Luke had told me back then._

_ "It can seem that way a lot, Annabeth, but I think that Life throws these obstacles in our way to make our lives difficult because one day we will be faced with a situation that seems near impossible, but we will have learned through the problems it puts in our path that we can't give up, no matter how tempting it is." Luke had learned the truth of his words the hard way._

_ I wasn't sure how long it was before I decided to stop and sit down, but I was glad I did. Only once I was sitting did I realize how tired my legs were from all that walking._

_ The floor was cold, hard and damp, like concrete. I didn't feel any warmer. I remembered the times that Percy and I had gone and swam, ran, or simply laid on the beach, soaking in the sun. He would roll over and just stare at me with that goofy smirk on his face. I would ask him what he was looking at and he wouldn't answer the question, he would just ask, "How could a guy like me ever get lucky enough to have a girl like you?" I would laugh and say it had nothing to do with luck, considering his luck is terrible._

_ I hadn't realized I had closed my eyes until they shot open at the sound. Off to my right, there was the unmistakable sound of laughter. A deep, genuine laugh, as if the person whom it belonged to couldn't possibly be having a better time. I knew that laugh. That care-free, laid back, warming laugh belonged to the person I longed to see most in the world. Percy._

_ I sprang up from my position on the floor and ran in the direction I heard it come from, but there was nothing there, of course. I heard it again, coming from a different direction, and of course, couldn't resist chasing after it, hoping that by some miracle he was there. This happened a number of times before I slumped back down to the ground in frustration._

_ "Come on, Annabeth." His voice broke the silence, ringing in my ears. "You aren't giving up that easily, are you? Perhaps I overestimated you…" it taunted. Wait… hasn't this happened before…_

_ Oh, I get it. The darkness is the fact that my subconscious is hanging in between stages of sleep. The deepest stage and the dream stage. That's the answer. I know now._

_ I laid there on the floor and closed my eyes, allowing my entire being to relax. When I opened my eyes again, my surroundings were finally changing. The glowing brightened drastically and I saw everything shrouded in a haze of fog, but the fog was shifting around, forming shapes, creating a scene around me slowly. The distinct smell of wildflowers filled the air around me, and the laughter continued, coming from a different spot each time._

_ Once the fog reached the shape it needed to be in, it solidified, gaining color and depth._

_ I was in a field of flowers, with a large solitary oak tree standing tall in the very middle. The flowers were brilliant; brightly colored and each one with its own unique shade and shape._

_ "Percy…" My voice called out over a sea of blossoms. "Give me back my hat!" I was trying to sound stern, but my voice held a noticeable amount of laughter in it._

_ I remember this. I was with Percy, Sally and Paul at the cabin at Montauk. One of the last days we were there, Percy asked me to go on a date with him the next day. Of course, I told him yes. I just didn't know where it would be._

_ He'd blindfolded me until we got to the very center of the field, at the base of the oak tree, where a small picnic had been set up. I was wearing a cute, short, dark gray sundress but had on flip-flops to accompany it. I had my hair pulled back by a wire headband that had a metal carnation placed off to the side. I had on a thin layer of soft pink lip gloss and some gray eye shadow, but other than that, I went without makeup. __**(A/N: Link to outfit on profile)**__ Percy himself was wearing a gray V-neck t-shirt, a pair of jeans and his black converse on. __**(A/N: outfit on the same link) **__I have to say it, he looked hot. But I couldn't say that for long because somehow after we ate, he'd taken my Yankee's cap and was now invisible. I kept trying to pin-point his location, but all I had to go by was the sound of his laughter._

_ "Percy!" I shouted in frustration, stamping my foot like some drama-queen on a stupid sitcom. I heard him laugh slightly off to the left and I took the opportunity to lunge at him again, but once again missing him. I felt a slight breeze off to my left, indicating he'd just dodged over that way, but this time I had a plan…_

_ He laughed again at my attempts and I feigned to lunge at him again, then I leapt to the left, crashing into him and sending us both sprawling on the ground, the Yankee's cap flying off his head to rest in the grass nearby. My shoulder ached and I felt like I had just run into a wall. Stupid Achilles curse! But I also knew where he was vulnerable…_

_ My weight had thrown him off balance and he was now under me laughing his head off._

_ "Seriously, Seaweed brain? Stealing my invisibility hat?" I ask as I push myself off the ground. "Really?"_

_ "Yes, really, Wise Girl." I shot him a look but he saw right through it, of course. He stood up and as I went to pass him to pick my hat up off the ground, I gave him a small poke on the small of his back, effectively sending him to his knees. "Now that just wasn't nice." He said, sounding childish, but I saw a mischievous glint in his eye._

_ "Percy…" I warned him, backing up slowly. "Don't you dar-" I was cut off by him scooping my legs out from under me and throwing me over his shoulder just like he had to drag me out to watch the sunset. "Put. Me. Down." I said, my tone somewhere in between seething and giggling like a school girl. "Perseus Alexander Jackson, I swear if you don't put me down this instant I wi—" I wasn't able to finish because at the moment, my lips were very busy. He pulled away too soon, was all I could think. I stood there, dazed a little by the perfectness of it all. He pulled a something out of his pocket._

_ "Annabeth…" he said, nervously. Though I didn't know why he'd be nervous._

_ "Yeah, Percy?" I was staring at his hand, wondering what he'd pulled out._

_ "Well… Annabeth… I know I say this a lot…. But, well…. I love you, Wise Girl. I love you more than you could ever know… and I know that you've had a hard past and everything, but I promise you, right here and now, that I will never hurt you." He said, softly. He pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me, the feel of his skin on mine is warmer than anything the sun could offer (Don't tell Apollo…). One of his hand grabbed mine and started playing with my fingers. I was speechless, to say the least. I was too stunned to realize he'd slipped something onto my finger. A ring._

_ Now, WAIT! First thing I will tell you is that he is not proposing. Sorry to disappoint._

_ It was a simple silver band that fit perfectly around my finger. On the top, beautifully engraved in the metal were four simple letters that made my heart beat a little faster. Love. That's all it said. That's all it needed to say. I searched his sea-green eyes, for what I'm not quite sure. But what I saw there was a pure and genuine feeling of happiness._

_ "I love you, too, Percy." I said._

~O~

That's when my eyes flew open. I remember every second of that wonderful day. I look down to my left hand and see that silver ring curled happily around my finger, as perfect as the day he gave it to me. The promise that came with it, however, was broken. It wasn't his fault. No, of course not. He didn't mean to make a promise he couldn't keep. I laugh quietly at the thought. Of course he wouldn't be able to keep that promise. Not with his luck.

"I love you, too, Percy." I whisper, before getting ready for the day.


	24. Chapter 23: WHAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW

**Here goes… The first chapter with new character's POV**

**Gwen**

As soon as I was done packing-Clothes, my armor, the ambrosia and nectar, extra socks (trust me, if you don't have them, you'll be sorry), a sword (I would strap the knife I used sometimes to my thigh), a hairbrush (my hair somehow mutates into an untamable alien creature during the night), and… well, a whole lot of other things, so I'll spare you the details-I made sure that my alarm clock was set for a time early enough for me to wake up and make sure I had _everything_ and still have time to get ready and be on time for the crack of dawn.

Now, you're probably laughing, saying 'Typical daughter of Minerva', but just watch me be on time while Kelp Head and Soup-For-Brains (Dakota, if you hadn't guessed already) stumble into the arena, late and unprepared. Who'll be laughing then? Me.

Settling into my covers, I knew that I'd get dreams this close to a quest but I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

~O~

_ People milled around in bright orange t-shirts. Some hurrying to wherever they needed to go, others strolling aimlessly around like they haven't a care in the world. My body floated there, about two or three inches off the ground and nobody noticed I was there, like a ghost. Like a gust of wind was pushing me, I was blown to a different part of this strange place. At the roman camp, everything was about discipline and honor and courage, but here, everyone seemed to be having a really good time while doing training. I saw a large arena-not all that different from ours-where some large kids wielding sword scowled at each other and then proceeded to spar. There were twenty cabins in all, and, I have to say, the oddest arrangement of buildings known to man, but I could see what they were for; each of them was for a different god or goddess and then all of their children would stay here. I saw a rock-climbing wall that, at first glance, seemed to be on fire, but then I realized there was molten lava spilling over the side, and the person climbing maneuvered the wall quickly, avoiding falling boulders, being scorched to death, and being smashed multiple times. There was an archery range that would make Reyna jealous beyond words. Targets would pop up in random places only to disappear just as quickly, but not before an arrow was expertly placed in the bulls-eye. Finally, I was pulled through a forest, along a creek, and over to a stone cliff. At first I didn't see what was so important about this place, and wondered why I had been stopped here, but my logical mind said that it must have some significance._

_ It wasn't long before a small Latino boy came over and what he did truly amazed me. Well… actually, what amazed me wasn't even the fact that he made a small flame in the palm of his hand, or even that he didn't seem to find this odd. It wasn't that when he placed his hand against the cliff-face that trails of fire swirled around in patterns or that once it had finished an entire section of the cliff swung open without a sound to reveal a giant cave. What really amazed me was the humungous warship that was in the process of being built._

_ Dozens of kids ranging from the ages of 8 to 18 bustled around swiftly working on one part of the ship or another. That strange gust of wind came again and I was carried over to a girl a few years older than me, standing over one of the most intricate blueprints I have ever seen. She had curly blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and intelligent gray eyes scanned the drawing in front of her with such intensity that I was afraid it would burst into flames. I recognized her immediately. It was the girl from Percy's test. This was Annabeth._

_ "Leo!" she called over her shoulder. "Make that support beam exactly 46 feet and 3.82 inches long, otherwise the weight bearing joints will weaken over a short period of time. And make sure you are using the right bolts! We don't want another collapse on the starboard side!" she was talking to the Latino boy that I had followed in._

_ "Yes, Ma'am!" he called back, but it was sarcastic._

_ "Get to work, Valdez. The faster you finish this ship, the sooner I can…" she hesitated. "The sooner I can stop whipping your hide for not doing it right!" he saluted her mockingly and turned to his work. I thought Annabeth would get mad or do something, because that kind of behavior is not permitted when speaking to your superiors, but she only gave a small laugh._

_ A small girl, around eight, with curly brown hair came bounding over to Annabeth with a smile on her face and a girl about my age, but younger than Annabeth, with dark hair braided down the sides and kaleidoscope eyes, following close behind._

_ "Annabeth?" the younger girl asked._

_ "Yes, Brooke?" she said patiently, but I could tell she didn't want to be interrupted from her work._

_ "Will you tell me again?" she asked in a voice so innocent, it could only belong to someone who hadn't seen nearly as much tragedy as most of us. Annabeth got a sad smile on her face. I didn't know what Brooke wanted Annabeth to tell her, but it obviously brought back memories._

_ "I promise, later, but right now I'm really busy. If we don't finish this soon, I will die from anxiety before I even get him back." Get who back? I wondered, but since I wasn't actually there, I couldn't ask._

_ "Malcolm is going to take over for you now." The older girl said. Annabeth sighed._

_ "You guys still think I'm over working myself don't you, Piper?" she asked, annoyed._

_ "No, we don't think that. We KNOW that." Piper answered, drawing out the 'know'. I thought Annabeth would put up a fight, but she seemed resigned at this point. But then a smile spread across her face._

_ "Fine. We can talk by the creek." She answered as a boy who looked almost exactly like her (you know… except for the whole boy not girl thing and his hair wasn't long) came over._

_ "You are officially on a forced break." He said, then went over to study the blueprint._

_ "But I was on a forced break all day yesterday! You guys need an intervention from trying to make me stop working on something that's extremely important to me!" she exclaimed, pushing her brother slightly. "Come on." She motioned to the two other girls, Brooke and Piper, to follow her, and then walked out of the cave._

_ A few minutes later, they were sitting on the ground, with their feet in the water, talking._

_ "So, Brooke. What did you want me to tell you about first?" she asked._

_ "You have to start at the beginning!" Brooke exclaimed._

_ "Ok. So… let's see… I guess the beginning of the story doesn't really start with him at all…" start with who, and what story? "I guess it was when I was seven and I ran away from home…"_

_ It was almost half an hour later before she finished talking about her adventure with people named Luke and Thalia, though she kept using the Greek names for the gods which was odd. Then she got to the part that really interested me._

_ "…So I wasn't there, but Percy told me what happened." My ears perked up at the mention of Percy's name. she went on a bit about his schools and how he'd gotten kicked out of them in the past so many times. When I heard about it, I couldn't hold in the laughter, and then she got to the museum. She explained and was about to tell us about the monster, but a horn rang out in the distance._

_ "Time for dinner. We'll continue tomorrow. Okay, Brooke?" she asked, and the small girl nodded her head, throwing her wild curls around before dashing off toward the direction of the camp I saw earlier._

_ "You were right…" Piper said, standing up beside Annabeth. Annabeth laughed before responding._

_ "I get that a lot. What about?" she joked._

_ "Wow," Piper shot back. "Egotistical, much?"_

_ "When you've saved the world as many times as I have, you're entitled to a little bit of an ego." She replied simply. What had she done? I asked myself. "So what was I right about?"_

_ "You and Percy got into way more trouble than I did."_

_ "Piper, you haven't heard anything yet. Did you know, he was subject of a nation-wide man-hunt, once? Or that he jumped out of the St. Louis Arch after nearly destroying it, while being attacked by the chimera? Or that his half-brother is a Cyclops named Tyson? Or that he's been turned into a guinea pig by the sorceress Circe? Or that I was kidnapped by Atlas a few years ago so Percy snuck out to join a quest he shouldn't have been on to save me, and then held up the sky while Artemis (Who had also been captured) fought Atlas, and they tricked him into going back under? Did you ever hear about that explosion of Mount St. Helen's a few years back?" I was in too much shock to really listen to piper's reply. Percy had done all that, and he couldn't remember?_

_ "I remember that… why?" piper answered._

_ "That's one of the forges of Hephaestus, and it had been overrun by Telekhines and in return for help to navigate the labyrinth, he had us find out who was using his forge. But Percy was found by some of them… and he told me to leave, he said he had a plan… I should have known better… he NEVER has a plan, just crazy ideas… that was our first kiss, in that volcano. I didn't know what was going to happen so I kissed him and I left. It wasn't too long until I heard the explosion. Percy blew up Mount St. Helens. It was two weeks before he washed up on shore. In fact," she smiled a bit at the memory. "He stumbled up to the amphitheater just in time to watch us almost burn his shroud. I was so relieved. Then we had to go back in with Rachel as our guide. We watched as Kronos rose from his coffin in Lu-Luke's body" her voice cracked over that part but then she smiled again, as if remembering something pleasant. "And Rachel…" she chuckled. "Rachel… she hit the titan lord in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush." That sentence sounded so bizarre, it made me want to crack up, but I kept listening. "he's done so much. Could you ever imagine?..." she trailed off. "Did you know, that with the help of some satyrs, Percy turned Hyperion, titan of light, into a maple tree in central park? Or that he defeated the Clazmonian sow? That he fought Kronos and won? That he bathed in the river Styx, making him invulnerable except for one point on his body which only I know? That while in the river he was supposed to stay focused on one thing to keep him mortal, and that one thing was me? That when he was given the choice to become a god- A GOD!- that he said no because of me? That without each other, we both would have died multiple times over the years? He's done all of this and a lot more… it was really hard on the camp when he disappeared… he was without a doubt our leader. Sure, it wasn't official by any means. He could use titles but he doesn't. but Percy is our leader because he's the kind of person you want to follow. Though he does have the worst luck in the history of all man-kind…" they were both laughing as they stepped out of the woods, piper with a look of awe on her face._

_ All I could think was, who is Percy? And why the Ceres __**(A/N: **_**Roman form of Demeter… don't know why I chose that particular goddess… I guess the name just sounded right in the curse) **_can't he remember the fact that he's done all of these impossible things?_

**I'm sorry if that's too much flash-backy stuff, but she had to find out one way or another, and I was going to do this scene with Annabeth and piper (and possibly others… but I decided not) so why not at the same time?**

**Read and Review, please!**


	25. Chapter 24: ARE YOU READY TO GO?

**I hear you guys liked Gwen's POV… I'm thinking about doing one from Dakota's POV soon but for now here's another Gwen chapter**

**Gwen**

Now, I think you could get where I'm coming from when I say I wanted to smash my alarm clock when it woke me up. In my dream I had been following Annabeth and Piper out of the woods when the beeping started. If they had said anything else interesting, I wouldn't get the chance to hear it. I was regretting setting my alarm so early.

But I was up now, so I had to deal with the fact that it was time to go. I half-heartedly checked my pack again, while mulling through the confusing whirl of thoughts in my head. Where was that place? I asked myself. It was obvious that it was another camp for Half-bloods, but it was so different there. They were so relaxed and we were so… not. That could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing. I'd say somewhere in between. We were probably better organized and disciplined, but… Well, to have so much fun while training and not be so strictly monitored and severely punished… it sounded really nice. And I'm guessing they're friendlier, try to avoid fighting. Though from what I saw, they're pretty dang good at fighting too.

_**BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP**_

__My alarm clock blares out, pulling me away from my thought. Oh Gods! I'd been sitting there for twenty minutes.

Scrambling to get ready, I didn't feel the need to finish going through my pack (six times is enough, right?). I borrowed one of my sibling's (I think it was Julie…) hairbrush to pull my hair back in a high ponytail before putting on a pair of dark jeans and my purple camp T-shirt. I rushed out of the bathroom, grabbed my bag and ran out the door.

I cursed seeing the light peak over the horizon. I, Gwen Reglos, Daughter of Minerva, head counselor of the Minerva cabin, Legatus of the First Legion, was late.

If there is one thing everyone in the entire camp knows, it's the fact that I am _never_ late.

**I know, really short chapter! But sorry, I had to stop here. Don't worry though; this is a split chapter…**

**Dakota**

Standing in the middle of the sword arena, I couldn't help but smirk. Where was the Great Gwendolyn Reglos at the moment? Nowhere in sight, that's for sure. I looked over at Percy, who was sitting on a bench only a few feet from him, who had no emotions on his face. I checked my watch a few times, then glanced at the horizon a few more. Could this really be happening? I was _not_ letting this one go. It took about five minutes, but finally, there she was, golden blond hair pulled back on her know-it-all head, her sparkling gray eyes glaring at me, as if daring me to make a comment.

"Sorry guys. I lost track of time." She said simply, though she was looking at Percy as if he'd grown a second head. No, even weirder. She was looking at him as if he's grown a second head, _and_ had started dancing around yelling about magic rainbow ponies.

"Well, no freaking _DUH._" I said. "never thought I'd see the day…" I mumbled, trailing off.

"Sorry, Kota… What was that?" her voice was sweet, sugar-coated. I knew better.

"Uh, nothing, Gwen. Nothing at all." I stated, nervous at the piercing look she was giving me.

"That's what I thought…" She trailed off and started looking at Percy oddly again. What was with that? "Anyway, we should get going. The sooner we leave to go on this quest, the quicker it's over, and the less time I have to spend with you." She said, shouldering her bag and walking towards the exit of the arena. I looked over at Percy, but he just shrugged and got up to follow her. Me, not being one to want to miss any action, was right behind them.

"So, Princess… It looks like you've got everything under control… Where's our first stop?" I asked. She shot me a look that meant she would not be taking any of my nonsense this trip…. Too bad for her, she going to have to put up with it a lot. I am not, under any circumstances, letting her off the hook.

"Well, actually Kota, this is Percy's quest, but it said we needed to go east. I say our first action is going to the nearest place that we can get a detailed map. Like I said before, we're on the west coast **(a/n thank you for pointing that out. I meant to type west but I guess I didn't)** so almost everywhere is east of us. If we get a map, then we can work our way towards an answer, ok?"

"Sounds good to me." Percy said. "So probably like a gas station or something. They usually have maps."

"Uh, yeah, a gas station." I said.

"So now that we know where we're going first, let's head out." She walked briskly towards the edge of camp, making Percy and I have to jog to catch up with her.

"Sounds easy enough so far… what could go wrong?" I mumbled.

If there is one thing that I would learn from the first part of this quest, it's that you should never _ever_ say anything that could possibly jinx you.

**I'm really sorry that it's so short… it's just a filler chapter with a sort of cliffhanger at the end. What could go wrong? Any way… I'll have a longer, more exciting chapter up soon but…**

**PLEASE READ: I have a poll up on my profile for another fanfic I want to write, so if you would vote, that would be greatly appreciated. And plus, as soon as I get a couple votes, I'll start it, so it'll give you something else to read. **

**Peace, Love, Hope, Happiness, Faith**

**11Lil'MissWriter11**


	26. Chapter 25: I GET GAS

**Remember, I have a poll up on my blog for another PJO fanfic. Please go and vote! I will start after about fifteen votes!**

**Percy**

Three miles and a half hour later, Gwen, Kota and I were standing inside the nearest gas station looking at a map.

"Sure! Go east! Couldn't the oracle be a little more specific?" Kota asked, frustrated.

"No, the oracle couldn't be more specific, Soup-for-brains. If she was, it wouldn't be a prophecy." Gwen said. I couldn't quite tell if she was more irritated with Kota or our situation.

"Well, _sorry_ for being a little frustrated here! At least with some other prophecies you would have a little guidance. _Risk the gamble and come up with Zero_? What the Pluto does that mean?"

"You think I'm not frustrated as much if not more than you are? You _think_ I'm not _frustrated_?"

"GUYS!" I intervene. "As confusing as it all is, the last thing we need is to be fighting amongst ourselves!" they were quite, but they both were glaring at each other.

"Percy's right. We need to get going, but _where_?"

"We don't know, Princess. We've already established that." Kota scoffed.

"We need someone who would actually know where Olympus is, but no one living has ever been there… I mean, unless they were immortal or something… Oh! I have an idea!"

"What is i-" Kota was asking when the clerk at the counter called to us.

"Do you need help with anything, Dearies?"

"No thank you, Ma'am." Gwen answered and turned back to us. I got a good look at the clerk, though, and I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Guys… why don't we discuss this somewhere else.." I said, jerking my head towards the clerk, trying to clue them in.

"Why, Perce?" Kota asked, oblivious. The clerk was an old lady, with a withered face and dark gleaming eyes. Under her clerk's vest she wore a leather jacket and she was holding a paisley handbag. **(Have I clued you in enough? If not, I politely suggest that you go back to the first book and re-read the series.)** "Something wrong?" his eyebrows scrunched together in concern (not a common expression on him).

"I-I don't know, really… she just seems kinda familiar… I don't like the feeling I'm getting though. We should leave."

"You think it might have something to do with your past? Something you can't remember?" Gwen asked.

"I think so…"

"Then we should really go." We turned around to leave, but unfortunately… something was in our way.

It had the same face as the clerk-a withered old lady- but the rest made me feel a bit…. Déjà vu-ish. It had leathery bat wings and it's bottom half had shriveled up. It had talons and in one hand, was holding a fiery whip.

"Um... Gwen… I don't think we covered this monster in basic training…" Kota muttered, his voice almost nervous, but he pulled out a sword. **(A/N thank you for letting me know!).**

"Of course we did! You just never pay attention! It's a Dirae! One of Pluto's torturers! Why is it here?"

"Stop bickering!" I exclaimed, not taking my eyes off of the monster. "Just make sure it doesn't kill you, and try to kill it. Simple as that."

"Now, Honey… you don't want to do that, so you?" she asked, hissing.

"Go to the exits." I told the other two. "I'll take her. Just get out now." Never once did my eyes leave the creature, who was slowly creeping closer, her flaming whip lashing out at racks of candy. She cackled.

"Truly lost all your memories, Perseus Jackson? Lord Hades will be pleased by this. Let me jog your memory." And with that she flew straight at me. I couldn't see what Kota and Gwen were doing, I just hoped they had heeded my warning and left.

The creature's whip wrapped around my wrist, burning into my flesh, yet, I felt nothing. Her talons came inches from raking across my chest, but I rolled out of the way in time, only realizing too late that I'd left my sword behind.

The monster was turning towards me again to attack, so I started to run. I felt a blow being struck on my back before I could get there.

I crashed through the windows and landed on the pavement outside. My vision was a bit blurry as I stood up. I reached into my pocket to find the pen was there again.

I pulled out Riptide and let the monster advance, shrieking. I rolled aside and her whip slashed through one of the gas pumps.

It charged me again but this time I came up kneeling and shoved the sword right through it's chest.

"Percy!" Gwen's voice called out. "Percy, RUN!" I looked around to see if there was any other monster, but there was nothing. Gwen and Kota were trying to get as far away as they could, so I ran after them. It was only then I realized why we were running. We were at a gas station. The whip the monster had was on fire. Fire+gas= explosion= not good.

I finally caught up with them, when station behind us erupted with flames. _Like a volcano_, I thought, though I didn't know why. I could feel the heat on my back and heard the sirens behind us, so we kept running.

"What. The. Pluto. Just Happened?" Kota asked.

"It's a monster, Kota! Did you not get that through your pea-sized brain? It just tried to kill us! Flaming whip plus gas equal Kaboom! Was that understandable enough?"

"You guys! We can save the arguing for some other time, we need to figure out where we're going first!" they both stopped and looked at me, then we laid the map out in front of us.

"So…" Gwen said, studying the map. "We should focus on the places east that have large quantities of mythological presence." We both just stared blankly at her.

"Huh?" Kota asked.

"Places where the god's presence is the strongest. That's most likely where Olympus is… now all w-"

"New York." I blurted out. "We need to go to New York"

"And why do you figure that?" Gwen asked skeptically. "We've always been told to stay away from that area. Too many monsters."

"I just know. It's a feeling." Kota just shrugged.

"We've got nothing better." He said.

"But it's on the complete other side of the country! If your feeling is wrong, we'll have lost much needed time!" Gwen protested.

"It's the best lead we have, even if it's just a hunch, it's a place to start." I reasoned. "If, like you said, there are a lot of monsters, wouldn't there be a reason the monsters go there? Maybe the godly presence there is strong…" she sighed.

"Fine. But if you mess up this quest, it's on your head."

"It _is_ my quest, Gwen. No matter who messes it up, it's on my head, so why not follow the only thing we've got so far?"

"Let's just go." She grumbled. "We've got a long way to go to New York."

**Sorry that it's so short, guys. I really am. I am having a bit of writers block. Well.. that's not truthful. I mapped out the entire quest and know exactly what they're going to do, but it seems that each time I try to write it out, it comes out worse and worse. Suggest something that you want to happen! That might get the creative wheels in my brain turning. I'm really sorry**


	27. Authors note! Important!

**Look, guys….**

** I'm really sorry that this is another authors note instead of a chapter, I'm also really sorry that I haven't given you a chapter in a long time. First of all, I would like to know that even though the actual Son of Neptune came out, would you like me to continue? If so, please comment saying whether or not you'd still be interested in reading this or if I should do a Mark of Athena fanfic.**

** I would also like to say the reason I haven't been updating as much is because, well you all know about school and how that is, but I just got a major leg surgery and have basically been drugged and unconscious, without access to a computer for almost a month.**

** I will remind you that I still have a poll up on my profile for a 'Reading the Books' fanfic, but I'm trying to make mine different from other's, so please vote, I only need four more votes and then ill start, so vote!**

** And thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I love you guys!**

**Love, Peace, Happiness, Hope, Faith**

**11Lil'MissWriter11**


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